Portland, Oregon’s Guantanamo Baywatch (featuring members Jason Powell, Chris Scott and Chevelle Wiseman) is a band that has built their reputation on wrangling up a ribald mishmash of classic surf instrumentation and brash garage rock. On the one hand, you could view this adherence to the rudiments of rock n’ roll as more of an homage than an artistic stride. Yes, the trio owes a hat tip to Dick Dale’s guitar licks and The Sonics’ primitive blown-out strut. But who gives a shit about reference points anyways? Every artist has ‘em. The ... view more »
Portland, Oregon’s Guantanamo Baywatch (featuring members Jason Powell, Chris Scott and Chevelle Wiseman) is a band that has built their reputation on wrangling up a ribald mishmash of classic surf instrumentation and brash garage rock. On the one hand, you could view this adherence to the rudiments of rock n’ roll as more of an homage than an artistic stride. Yes, the trio owes a hat tip to Dick Dale’s guitar licks and The Sonics’ primitive blown-out strut. But who gives a shit about reference points anyways? Every artist has ‘em. The question is: can you twist your influences into something exciting and new? In the past, Guantanamo Baywatch demonstrated their ability to do so by cranking everything into the red, making those traditional motifs sound far nastier than their forefathers intended. Remember how The Cramps made rockabilly sound dangerous and seedy even after it was several decades old? That’s what Guantanamo Baywatch did with their crosspollination of tremolo-picked leads and basement-band brashness. But with Darling… It’s Too Late the band broke away from their burying-the-needle-on-the-four-track sound and traveled down to Atlanta’s Living Room Recording (Black Lips, The Coathangers, Jacuzzi Boys) to track with Ben Coleman, Justin McKneight, and Ed Rawls.
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