SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: C & C SURF FACTORY – GARAGE CITY

C & C Surf Factory
Garage City
Six Sooter Records

C & C Surf Factory is a band with a great blend of garage-based rockabilly and surf guitar jams, brought to you by Toronto axe masters Colin Cripps and “Champagne” James Robertson. Their debut album Garage City will keep your drive rockin’ and rollin’ for the sunny days to come, so grab your board, jump in the woody suburban, and crank it up.

“P Soup,” is a real knockout track that showcases Colin and CJR’s incredible guitar chops and highlights the band’s chemistry. The lead guitar hooks are what truly make this song so great; they are addictive and will loop in your head for hours. For the ultimate ‘60’s So-Cal beach experience you’ll have to check out “Takeshiesque,” a tune that incorporates sounds of The Beach Boys and other original melodic flavours that conjure up images of grainy old 16mm surf films. This would definitely be a suitable soundtrack to a Quentin Tarantino film. “911” is another standout track, with a lingering guitar jam that mixes Fender beach sounds with the jam-band stylings of String Cheese Incident and Umphrey’s McGee; at 4:49 in length you’ll get your groove on here. Closing out side I of the album is “Cat Girl,” which slows things down to an atmospheric Hawaiian vibe before taking the plunge into side II. Its meandering and tremolo heavy guitars are absolutely beautiful and will have you thinking of endless summers and crashing California waves.

“Cobra Basket” kicks off side II. Its left-of-centre sound incorporates Middle Eastern flavours and may not be for the surf purist but will certainly hold your attention with its fuzzy bass lines and Persian keyboard leads. C &C didn’t leave out the indie rock here: the final track, “Phasors On Sun,” comes at you with a low-fi and grungy vibe taking dirty guitars and drums that get mighty trippy with the delay pedal and other psychedelic effects. This is a cool – closer to an impeccable – album.

If spring reverb, tremolo and surfable waves are your thing then look no further, Garage City is for you! From the songwriting to production to track listing, this album is near perfect. For vinyl enthusiasts, the album is available on 180-gram red and mottled white vinyl.  Check out sixshooterrecords.com for details and surf on.

–Andre Skinner (@andreskinner)

sixshooterrecords.com/artists/c-c-surf-factory