Koizilla: I Don't Surf I Boogie (Trace/Untrace/bandcamp)

 |   |  1 min read

Koizilla: I Don't Surf I Boogie (Trace/Untrace/bandcamp)
And here is the sum total of our knowledge of Koizilla who drew our attention this, their second album.

They are a self-described “Dunedin surf-psych quartet” who here “continue to expand their sonic palette, maintain the raw garage-rock sound Koizilla are known for while adding dynamic and finesse to the overall appeal”.

They also recorded this in their lounge.

That's it . . . but because we were quite taken with their 10 songs of cheering, sometimes flat-tack and/or spaced-out psyche-rock – and that in photos at their Facebook page and on the Trace/Untrace website they looked like they were having fun – we happily bring them to your attention.

Oh, and the artwork by Will Agnew here and on a previous release also appealed.

Koizilla are guitarist/singer Zak (who contacted us, thus showing some initiative), bassist/singer Connor, drummer Josh and Hilary on flute, vocals, keyboards and percussion.

You'd liked to have been in that lounge when they were recording.

I Don't Surf I Boogie is a fair description of the contents too in that they can certainly do disciplined psychedelic boogie (Weatherperson, Sunburn and Itchy Bites) but they also have a slightly absurdist approach to pop (the one minute Goat Boat Float, the odd Monkey Bay, Monkey Yab) and both the hard-pop of Boogie Board and Prooble are kind of head-down punky takes on boogie and surf rock.

The five minute opener Let's Go Camping sounds beamed in from one of the better left-field San Francisco bands of 1966.

Yes, there's a lot of enthusiastic and diverse stuff going on here.

You can hear and buy this album at their bandcamp page here.

Once the lockdown is over let's hope they can afford to tour, they sound like they'd be a lotta fun live.

They also did this interesting session in very cramped circumstances!

.

ELSEWHERE ENCOURAGES ITS READERS TO SUPPORT NEW ZEALAND ARTISTS BY BUYING THEIR MUSIC DIRECTLY RATHER THAN STREAM THROUGH SPOTIFY WHERE THEIR RETURNS ARE NEGLIGIBLE


Share It

Your Comments

Matt Dalzell - Apr 27, 2020

I saw Koizilla play at the Newtown Festival in Wellington just before COVID lockdown and they were easily the most inventive and fun act of any I saw that day. I saw them by accident, en route to another stage, as it's a horrorshow to navigate, but turned the corner and there was a wonderful melange of 60s psych, Fuzztones, Thee Hypnotics surging forth so I stayed and loved it.

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

Rostam: Half Light (Nonesuch/Warner)

Rostam: Half Light (Nonesuch/Warner)

Any record company exec would be glad to sign Rostam Batmanglij as a solo artist after his role as mainman in the musically expansive and interesting Vampire Weekend who he also produced. His... > Read more

The Map Room: Weatherless (themaproomband.com/Aeroplane)

The Map Room: Weatherless (themaproomband.com/Aeroplane)

Elsewhere embraced the debut All You'll Ever Find by the Map Room – Brendon Morrow and Simon Gooding – two years ago for being that rare thing in New Zealand's musical landscape:... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Elsewhere Art . . . the Beatles

Elsewhere Art . . . the Beatles

Because there is a finite number of studio recordings by the Beatles, just for my amusement I sometimes make up my own and write about them under the Absurd Elsewhere page. Given the title of... > Read more

Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959)

Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959)

Once I was asked if I would contribute a page to a monthly magazine on famous musicians I had met. That part was easy, I've met quite a few. But then the person said they would like to run the... > Read more