LOADING...
Fairfax,CA 2006 (Archive video from 1992/1994)
Flash Video (Time: 7:25)video: k. wills/audio: S. Brown
In the late 50's the first wave of twangy surf and neo "surf" guitar bands created such artists as Dick Dale, Duane Eddy, The Ventures and Link Wray. The electric guitar--a vital ingredient in the development of rock and roll--was now thrust center stage. In the late 90's and beyond, swept up in the new wave of "surf guitar" bands, the critically acclaimed instrumental trio, the MERMEN, are considered the genre's most intrepid and inspired revisionists. Taking on surf music with what Option called "a revivalist purism, but a contemporary sensibility", the MERMEN are one of the more offbeat bands to emerge from the surf renaissance, and survive well beyond the trendiness. As the Los Angeles Reader says"If you're looking for bikini-clad babes and cocktails at five, you've come to the wrong beach. The Mermen are the sonic equivalent of a mandelbrot set, waxing ever more cryptic and beautiful. Gorgeously complex, dreamy and oblivious to time, supremely unrushed divine textures seduce us like the melancholy bleatings of Arctic whales."
Genre-bending and transcendental, the MERMEN make music that the Los Angeles Times says: "refuses to be pigeonholedby soaring in all directions--from pretty, atmospheric psychedelia to electrifying Hendrix-esque soloing to punchy punk inspired riffing..."
Exiling the generic to the oldies bin, since 1989 the MERMEN are considered by press and public alike as the outright leaders of the genre's current surf re/evolution. What makes the MERMEN unique is that the music displays a deep and solitary originality. And there is a vitality to their music that has remained ever-present throughout the bands 18-year plus history. Through that time the MERMEN have won more critics awards, readers poll awards, and have appeared on more "best of" lists than anyother San Francisco Bay Area band (see list at end). As Alternative Press observed, "It's the band's ability to harness the currents of 70's punk anger, 80's hardcore emotionalism, and 90's grunge as well as diving into the 60's " thatsets them apart.
"The best rock and roll is poetry in motion, with or without words — and some of the best records of the year came without. The Mermen play an extreme brand of surf music; the trebly turbulent and black minor chord moods of guitarist Jim Thomas are like a rough ride on the icy seas of the mid-Atlantic. Hints of Dick Dale filter through the cracked sidewalk wave forms of Sonic Youth. Thomas sounds more like Neil Young at the wheel of the good ship Crazy Horse." --David Fricke, Rolling Stone
"The Mermen and particularly guitarist Jim Thomas, has morphed surf music into a new age. He's doing it first and so far the best." Raoul Hernandez, The Austin Chronicle
"Jim Thomas's dazzling guitar work steals the show. Informed by both Dick Dale's staccato precision and Hendrix's molten psychedelia, Thomas possesses a flawless technique and a highly personal sound. Moving from deftly controlled feedback to breakneck accuracy to hushed crystalline passages, Thomas proves that he is one of rock's premier ax wielders." Rick Reger, Chicago Tribune
"The Mermen inject gravitas into the camp-added surf genre like spiritual beach bums searching for that elusive last wave. Tracing the 11 year span from KRILL SLIPPIN to the recent AMAZING CALIFORNIA HEALTH & HAPPINESS ROAD SHOW, the Mermen have gotten increasingly open ended and jammy but remain as narcotic as the bends." Andrew Lentz, LA Weekly
"Jim Thomas may well be the best psychedelic surf guitarist in the world." San Francisco Bay Guardian, BEST OF THE BAY awards Aug, 2002
© Copyright 2008, The Mermen. All rights reserved. ~
Website by Neptune and Mad Anne Drakken | Logo design by Denise Halbe
For technical concerns or suggestions, contact our webmaster.