Bikini Beach – “Appetizer” LP (La Pochette Surprise Records)

This is a La Pochette Surprise Records!

Yellow Vinyl Edition

FFO: Daily Thompson, Jefferson Airplane, Mudhoney

A1 Nine2Five
A2 Traffic Lights
A3 Disorder
A4 Black Witches
A5 She’s So
A6 King Ueli
B1 Rabbit Hole
B2 Destiny
B3 Telephone
B4 Animal Anger
B5 Life Had No Meaning
B6 Zwölfachtel

If you want to pin Bikini Beach down musically, you’d better train your hand-eye coordination. Because on their new album “Appetizer”, the Swiss trio opens up all kinds of genre drawers, picks out what suits them and jumps straight to the next one. The only constants: A soft spot for fuzz guitars and jingles and the reverb-drenched vocals of guitarist Nils Hagstrom and bassist Charlotte Love. The band expands this garagey foundation with drummer-driven psych rock in “King Ueli”, bogged-down stoner in “Black Witches” or the surf set pieces of “Destiny”. The fact that this colourful, glittering package does not slip into randomness and develops a hypnotic drive even in the quieter moments is a testament to the trio’s songwriting qualities. So: Better leave your hammer and nails at home and give the band a hand with the chainsaw when it comes to dismantling genre boundaries.