New Local Sounds from Seaside Caves, The Jolly Daggers, and Black Flamingos

The Jolly Daggers are just one of several recent Asbury Park releases.

Hey, Neighbor

It's been a strong couple of weeks for Asbury Park-based releases. In one of my famous Friday afternoon roundups, I wanted to call your attention to three things that have hit us recently.

Seaside Caves, "The Rage"

Seaside Caves put out one of my favorite EPs of 2014 when they released their self-titled debut at the end of last year. Since then, they've snagged opening slots for both Home for the Holidays and Home for the Summer with The Bouncing Souls; and Chunksaah Records gave Seaside Caves a physical release on vinyl.

Yesterday, the band released single "The Rage." It's another retro-inspired trip that unfurls in smears of gothic black and white over the course of its five minutes. "I wanna feel alive," sings bassist Todd Wacha as his buried vocals trail off under a wall of synths. Like all of Seaside Caves' previous work, "The Rage" makes me want to head for those shoeboxes in the closet so that I can sift through the creased and faded pictures from my high school days.

Check out "The Rage" below and come check Seaside Caves out live on Friday, November 13th, at Asbury Park Yacht Club. It's a free, CDM-presented show that also features our friends Overlake and Dead Stars.



The Jolly Daggers, Singles

The Jolly Daggers are Captain Fun Ron Santee of The Battery Electric, Robert Butkowski of Black Flamingos / Plato Zorba, Sweet Joey of Ba Babes, and Boris Thertus of super-human feats of athleticism. They've played a couple of local shows so far and promise more for the future. While we wait for that, though, the pirate crew have put out a series of singles recorded at Word of Mouth Studios in Long Branch and mastered by Derril Sellers. Studio bassist Brent Bergholm plays on each of the tracks.

There are the appropriately pirate-themed tracks of "Yo Ho" -- its opening smooch is pure Captain Fun -- and "Sailing the Black Seas." There are the more straight garage-y tracks like the soulful "See It All Through" and the rowdy "Who Killed the Postman." Each track offered up by the band has a lo-fi, retro feel anchored (ha! "anchored") by Robbie Butkowski's twangy and surf-tinged guitar.

This is music for swaying and rocking. This is music for hoisting up a tankard of rum with one arm while draping the other arm across the shoulders of your mate.

Check out everything that The Jolly Daggers have uploaded to Bandcamp (weirdly, all as individual singles) and stay on watch for their next local raid.



Black Flamingos, Black Flamingos EP

Last Friday, Black Flamingos released their self-titled, debut EP on Little Dickman Records. The instrumental surf trio of Robert Butkowski, Vincent Minervino, and Declan O'Connell bring a dark originality to a well-worn genre.

I really love this band. Every track features the familiar twang and reverb of surf rock; but they come from a different place. It's like some weird place where everyone drives vintage cars through the nighttime fog, but it's totally the future. Does that make sense?

Each of the five tracks is a winner. If I had to give special mention to any of them, I'd probably say "Okinawa" (which premiered right here) and "Shark Repellant;" but just listen to the record front to back and you won't be disappointed.

Black Flamingos are celebrating the release of the EP with a free show at Asbury Park Yacht Club next Friday, October 30th. Also on that bill are The Coffin Daggers and The Primitive Finks. Wear a costume.