I'm not an expert on surf music or jazz. I do love the jangle of single-coil pickups, though; and I am a firm believer in the fact that reverb makes everything better.
Given that, Plato Zorba's Pageant of the Transmundane is amazing ear-candy for me. One of the things that can plague surf music, I think, is a lack of originality. One listen through the Hazlet quartet's debut LP, though, reveals that Plato Zorba are not only technically accomplished musicians, but creative composers and improvisers.
A carnival barker promising "the most haunting ordeal of your lives" provides the intro to opener "In The Shallows." From there, guitarist Robert Butkowski takes you on a trip that's different than anything you've probably experienced before. Whether it's the loungey flourishes and embellishments provided by Ryan Gregg's keyboard work or the little section in "Livorno Sea Creature" where Butkowski trades the glassy, surfy cleans for a little bit of distortion, this isn't the usual surf rock.
Some of the pieces, like "Martini Meltdown" aren't even quite surf rock. Yeah, there's the reverb and the vibrato; but there's something jazzier and darker going on. Titles like "Octopus Boy" and "Alucard" contribute to the bizarre and freakish atmosphere promised at the beginning, the former going out on a kind of a spooky carnival march and the latter having a regal feel appropriate to the "Prince of Vampires." On single "Santiago," it's almost like Butkowski's guitar is singing to you.
Pageant of the Transmundane isn't a rough-edged surf record filled with covers of revered surf standards. Instead, it's a weird and wonderfully original "haunting ordeal."
I've heard most of these songs performed live, and the experience is mind-blowing. The record does a good job of capturing that feeling. You don't have to rely on the recording, though. Tomorrow night you can catch Plato Zorba when they perform at the Asbury Park Surf Music Festival's Winter Beach Bash at The Wonder Bar along with Black Flamingos, Los Pocos Locos, and The Brigantines.
You can pick up a copy of the CD -- which is out now -- there, I'm sure.
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