You know that song ‘Misirlou’? The one Dick Dale did that you probably heard in Pulp Fiction?
Well, how about ‘Wipe Out’? By The Surfaris? How about that one?
Imagine seven minutes of that, drenched in reverb, punctuated with shrieks, and sounding like it was recorded in a warehouse. That’s what the latest EP from Perfect Hair Forever, WAVES of F.E.A.R., is like.
Perfect Hair Forever, an Auckland ‘pop crud/surf’ band with a name that probably infringes on an Adult Swim copyright, take their cue from classic instrumental surf rock bands like Dick Dale and the Del-Tones, The Bel-Airs’ and The Surfaris; artists that emphasised strong guitar solos and ‘good times’ over lyrical depth—at the very least, WAVES of F.E.A.R. is filled with the same alternate picking solos and wet reverb as used by those masters of the wave.
However, this isn’t just nostalgic aping of the classics. Every note echoes in what seems to be a cavernous recording studio, and the vocals sound more like pained moans than calls to the beach, unintelligible save for repeated lyrics like “watch me die” in ‘Being DEAD is COOL’ and “baaaaaaaaaad” in ‘B.A.D.’. The EP’s naming scheme (other tracks are called ‘The forest will get you!!!!!’ and…um…’Misty island’) backs up this apparent modus operandi. Perfect Hair Forever are setting themselves up to soundtrack the beach party at the end of the world, when the sirens ring out loud and the red waves churn, and they’re doing a pretty damn good job of it.