Surf's Up | ||||
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Studio album by David Thomas and Two Pale Boys | ||||
Released | 2001 | |||
Studio | Suma Recording (Painesville, OH) | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 51:24 | |||
Label | Thirsty Ear [1] | |||
Producer | David Thomas | |||
David Thomas and Two Pale Boys chronology | ||||
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Pere Ubu chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Robert Christgau | ![]() |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Surf's Up is the second album by David Thomas and Two Pale Boys, released in 2001. [5] [6] The album is named after the Beach Boys' track, which the band covers. [7]
The Chicago Reader wrote that "the Two Pale Boys render Thomas's desolate vision in vivid colors." [8] CMJ New Music Monthly wrote that "there are enough inspired bits to make one endure the few dead spots." [9] The Cleveland Scene wrote that the album "combines elements of the Residents' brilliantly nonsensical instrumentals, Tom Waits's terrifying but exquisite lyrics, and John Zorn's precise, free-jazz workouts." [10] The Inlander called the album one of 2001's best, writing that "there are no musical similarities between Thomas and the Beach Boys, but their lyrical focus on Americana tally here, though this Surf's Up is a beautiful but haunted America." [11] The Quietus wrote that the band "serve up a smattering of avant-folk, coloured by touches of electronic pulses and Rain Dogs era Tom Waits contortions." [12]
All tracks composed by David Thomas, Andy Diagram and Keith Moliné; except where indicated
Surf music is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental surf, distinguished by reverb-heavy electric guitars played to evoke the sound of crashing waves, largely pioneered by Dick Dale and the Del-Tones. The second is vocal surf, which took elements of the original surf sound and added vocal harmonies, a movement led by the Beach Boys.
David Lynn Thomas is an American singer, songwriter and musician, now based in the UK. He was one of the founding members of the short-lived proto-punkers Rocket from the Tombs (1974–1975), in which he played under the moniker "Crocus Behemoth," and of post-punk group Pere Ubu. He has also released several solo albums. Though primarily a singer, he sometimes plays melodeon, trombone, musette, guitar or other instruments.
Pere Ubu is an American rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. The band had a variety of long-term and recurring band members, with singer David Thomas being the only member staying throughout the band's lifetime. They released their debut album The Modern Dance in 1978 and followed with several more LPs before disbanding in 1982. Thomas reformed the group in 1987, continuing to record and tour.
Surf's Up is the 17th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on August 30, 1971 on Brother/Reprise. It received largely favorable reviews and reached number 29 on the U.S. record charts, becoming their highest-charting LP of new music in the U.S. since 1967. In the UK, Surf's Up peaked at number 15, continuing a string of top 40 records that had not abated since 1965.
Skam Records is an independent electronic music record label based in Manchester, England, founded by Andy Maddocks around 1990. Skam also runs a smaller sub-label called 33.
The Doctor Came at Dawn is the fifth album by Bill Callahan, released in 1996 on Drag City. It was re-released in Europe in 2001 by Domino. Callahan's occasional creative partner, Cynthia Dall, appears on the album.
Song of the Bailing Man is the fifth Pere Ubu album, released in 1982. It was the final Pere Ubu album until 1988's The Tenement Year.
Why I Hate Women is the 13th studio album by Pere Ubu, released in 2006. Keith Moliné stepped in for departed longtime guitarist Tom Herman, making this the first Pere Ubu studio album not to feature any of the group's founders either as members or as guests. Explaining the title, Thomas claimed that Why I Hate Women is a tribute to an imaginary book that Jim Thompson could have written.
Erewhon is David Thomas and Two Pale Boys' debut album, as well as Thomas' first record outside the Pere Ubu banner since that group's reformation in 1987. The Two Pale Boys are a duo consisting of Keith Moliné on guitar and Andy Diagram on trumpet and other instruments.
Mirror Man is the title of a "rogue opera" conceived and orchestrated by David Thomas, as well as an album recording of the first act of that piece. The piece draws many lyrical and imagistic threads from Thomas' entire recorded legacy, as well as relying to a large degree on improvisation and the personalities of its participants. The cast is typically large and diverse, featuring actors, poets and singers supported by a core musical group. Set in an abstract highway landscape among anonymous all-night coffee shops, bus stops, roadside detritus, apocryphal road signs, and flickering streetlights, Mirror Man is "about places that don't exist and a collection of stories about the people who live there -- abandoned by the future, forbidden access to the past, and set adrift in a mirage-like Now".
Bay City is an album by David Thomas and Foreigners, released in 2000.
Frank Black Francis is a 2-CD set released in 2004 by Frank Black, roughly coinciding with the Pixies reunion tour. Disc 1 consists of a March 1987 solo acoustic demo tape recorded by engineer Gary Smith, just prior to the first Pixies recording session. Disc 2 is a contemporary recording from 2003 of Frank Black reworking a number of Pixies songs with Keith Moliné and Andy Diagram, who are part of David Thomas and Two Pale Boys.
Greed is the third studio album by American experimental rock band Swans. It was released in 1986, through record label K.422. Greed marks the slow turning point for Swans away from the harsh, brutal noise rock of prior releases, and is also the first Swans album to contain contributions from Jarboe.
Unknown Country is an album by New Zealand group The Clean, released in 1996.
It's All About the Stragglers is the sole studio album by the English garage duo Artful Dodger. It was released on 20 November 2000 by London Records. The album contains eight different vocalists, including Craig David.
Andy Diagram is a British musician and trumpet player. He has worked with the instrument in a variety of bands and contexts ranging from pop and rock to experimental jazz, art rock and dance music. He is best known for his work with James, with Spaceheads and with the Pere Ubu singer David Thomas.
Gash is the debut EP by the neo-psychedelia band Pram. It was released in 1992 on Howl Records.
99th Dream is the fourth studio album by the British alternative rock band Swervedriver, released in 1998. The band was dropped by DGC Records after recording the album; they retained the masters and eventually signed with Zero Hour Records.
Meadville is an album of live recordings, sold only on concerts. The Two Pale Boys are Keith Moliné on midi-guitar and Andy Diagram on "trumpet through electronics".
"True Love Waits" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead. Radiohead worked on it for over two decades before releasing it on their ninth album, A Moon Shaped Pool (2016).