Eargasm
BERT SUSANKA >> ONWARD CHRISTIAN SLATER.
CORNERSTONE RAS 2007

"If Annette Funicello had dropped acid and gotten knocked up by Brian Wilson and Dee Dee Ramone during a barnyard hoe-down, the result would have to be The Ziggens." That was ESM's first impression of their 1995 release, Chicken Out, well before Sublime gave the Long Beach four-piece a push by citing their influence and -- on occasion -- biting their style ("Big Salty Tears" was a Bradley Nowell acoustic staple; the chords to "Bad Fish" are a carbon copy of "All The Fun That We Missed"). Twelve years later, Skunk Records' original recording artists have outlasted both Brad and the label, putting out several more albums. So why would singer/ songwriter and frontman Bert Susanka suddenly decide to do a solo project now? "The Ziggens are still together and doing small tours four or five times a year," he insists, "but we're kind of all over the place. Dickie's got a side deal. Brad's moved back to Wisconsin with his new wife. And Poutney's on the road managing a boy band." 

Bert's not kidding, for once. But even without his faithful lineup, Susanka delivers another fresh-yet-familiar mix of surreal musical styles and oddball humor: crazy surf licks, lounge-act harmonies, maudlin Mexi-horn and flute fills, teeth-gritting distortion, plus some really bad puns -- and that's just the opening track. Produced by longtime collaborator/ recording genius Rob Perez, Onward Christian Slater stands as Susanka's most polished release since 1998's Pomona Lisa. It's also his most personal, full of well-constructed examinations of childhood, family, faith -- yes, there are Christian themes -- as well as basketball, fishing, hot Asian houseguests and, of course, surfing.  

Actually, former Ziggen and Skunk founder Michael Happoldt returns to read a telling narrative of Mainland Mexican adventures over an instrumental worthy of Endless Summer, full of true-life breaks and lineup terminology. And if we had to lazily borrow one piece of overused surf lingo to describe Onward Christian Slater, it would simply be "epic," a literal compliment for this introspective journey that travels from rock to rap to reggae to unclassifiable. Sixteen songs total, and every single one of them is unique, sincere and -- as always -- original. By Matt Walker/ Surfing Magazine