The Trashmen
Surfin' Bird

THE REVIEW

Surf… from the city of lakes.

“The city is located in the southeastern part of Minnesota, along the banks of the Mississippi River. In the city area, there are 24 small lakes, and it was precisely the abundance of water that suggested the city's name to the founders. The term Minneapolis derives from the word minne, which means water in the Lakota language, and polis, city in Greek. The city is also known by the nickname "City of Lakes"” from Wikipedia – The Free Encyclopedia

From this city, at the end of 1963, Tony Andreason (guitar), Dan Winslow (guitar and vocals), Steve Wahrer (drums and vocals), and Bob Reed (bass) "invade" the United States with the hit "Surfin’ Bird", which will grant them an almost entirely unexpected fame and a fourth place on the Billboard sales chart; a success they will never match again with subsequent (albeit excellent) singles.

The idea came to Wahrer when he decided to combine (mash-up ante-litteram…) two pieces by The Rivingtons ("The Bird’s The Word" and "Pa Pa Ooh Mow Mow"), exacerbating the already frenetic rhythm and dulling the singing so much that it rendered the song a piece of freakish schizophrenia still unmatched (the studio covers by the Ramones or the Cramps seem like tidy and cleaned-up versions of the original). The American garage scene owes a lot (everything is a bit too much, also because simultaneously, in Seattle, The Sonics were brutalizing rock'n'roll, making it rot…) to these four fresh-water surfers, who riding the wave of success, released in 1964 an LP that took the title from the 45rpm, but without the same good fortune.

Inside, there's a handful of splendid surf tracks, including "Misirlou" which Dick Dale & His Del-Tones (another legend of the genre) would later reinterpret in a more acidic way (who doesn't know the "theme" of Tarantino's Pulp Fiction opening titles…?), "King Of The Surf" (the title says it all), or "Bird Bath"; and intriguing reinterpretations, such as the rock'n'roll of "It’s So Easy" (Buddy Holly), the soul of the heavily covered "Money (That’s What I Want)" and the Hispanic folklore of "Malaguena Leccona".

No one was yet ready for the insane fury of the Minneapolis quartet, charts were flooded with the gentler and safer waves of the Beach Boys or Jan & Dean; and The Trashmen lingered for a couple more seasons riding the wave of "Surfin’ Bird", until their split at the end of 1967, without being able to deliver any other long work. In 1994, "The Great Lost Trashmen Album!" was released by Sundazed, which resurrects the tracks they were working on, singles and previously unreleased sides on LP, plus some interesting demos… a practice also carried out with this work (the demo versions of "Surfin’ Bird" and "Bird Dance Beat" are excellent).

"…Surfin' bird
Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb... [retching noises]... aaah!
Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-
Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-oom-oom-oom
Oom-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-a-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow
Papa-oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow
Oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow
Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow
Well don't you know about the bird?
Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!
A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird's the word"