C&C Surf Factory Debut Provides Mixed Bag Of Results

So it's a case of lesson learned with this one. Look before you leap and all that. Instrumental guitar rock not my usual kind of thing but that's prob a throw back to my childhood with an older brother who was in love with The Shadows... Hank Marvin posters and guitar paraphernalia everywhere. And before you think that must make me really ancient it's not, I had a normal 80's upbringing but just with a weird brother.

Anyway turns out The Shadows reference fits quite neatly with this album. Bringing back all sorts of suppressed memories of being locked in the kitchen forced to do the 'Shadows Shuffle'. Thank god YouTube wasn't invented then.

And thank god it is available now otherwise all of what I'm about to discuss would cease to exist... well they would still exist but you wouldn't know and I wouldn't know and that's the important bit right?

So C&C Surf Factory hit with their debut album 'Garage City'. They’re Canadian, completely guitar-driven and very far removed from the sounds I usually go with. But it's my first time here in Subba-Cultcha so I'll give it my best shot. Album opener 'Dirty Skirty' takes me to some illicit 1950s bar where your mum was waitressing in red heels and matching full skirt. Quite a repetitive little melody. Still can't get my head round the lack of words but you know, I'm learning.

It’s a bit of a mixed bag for me to be honest, some of the tunes sound like they’re for me, others not so, some are reminiscent of the opening track from the ‘Pulp Fiction’ soundtrack (I love you honey bunny I love you pumpkin BOOM!) and some not so. One track in particular (Cobra Basket) sounds like it would have fitted pretty well with the poolside cartel killing from Breaking Bad; check this one about 1:30 mins, it’s all going off …

The preceding track ‘Cat Girl’ comes from a different place and time altogether, think lazy beach umbrellas, cocktails, sunsets and rippling waves, tinged with a melancholic undercurrent of having just been handed divorce papers whilst you’re on your honeymoon. Almost crying by the end of this one. Maybe this guitar/drums with no words could be growing on me.

But to be honest, by the tenth song, my ears just couldn’t do it anymore. If guitars are your thing and you live for that gritty, dirty even sludgy kind of twang, you are going to love this. For me it will go on the back burner for a little while, and in short bursts I may even grow to appreciate more. Thanks C&C Surf Factory, an interesting foray into the world of reverb, but at this time, not quite hitting that sweet spot for me.

To find out more about C&C Surf Factory click here.

To visit the C&C Surf Factory Facebook site click here.

Words by Mary Long

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