Recently the Deli called Rhode Island’s Kid Chocolate a surf rock group that “shouldn’t be pegged as a retro act.” If that statement disappointed the beach partier in you, then look no further than Boston’s Trabants. Their album Highwire Surfing is a coast through classic-sounding surf riffs featuring requisite saxophone and flute appearances and retro organ chord progressions — 100% instrumental. In true surf rock form, Trabants borrow melodic ideas from a variety of cultures, including Western cowboy music, Elvis-y tonk, country rock, Russian folk music, and Henry Mancini-like orchestral hooks (think Pink Panther theme). The group really pulls off the retro act, sounding every bit out of the 60’s, down to the last reverb adjustment. (They deviate somewhat humorously from the act for a harder-rocking, but no less simple hometown anthem called Swampscott Stomp.) In all, a fun frolic of an album great for when you’re looking for a refreshing, un-ironic take on a sound from another era.
–Alexander Pinto