Review by Molly Tie

The Neptunas new album, Mermaid A Go Go (out today) is a bubbly journey through the best sounds of surf rock.

If you are craving a bit of summat exotic and sunny as the result of 4 months in lockdown then have I got just the thing to satiate you. The Neptunas new album is a rollicking 60s-come-90s aquamarine fest full of classic surf music skill mixed with Little Mermaid-esque portrayals of a fun and happening world under the surface.

A mixture of instrumentals and vocal tracks, the album offers a lot of twang for your buck, all held together with some great production sounds that evoke a real party-feeling. The Neptunas have created a world for you to enter where you can meet characters such as Lord Jim (The Well-Bred Mop Head/ In a Garage Band) and find hip hang outs like the eponymous Mermaid A Go Go (Where the Mermen Are Flawless/And the Mermaids Are Bra-less). There are some eclectic cover version choices- The Kinks’ ‘Til the End of the Day’ nestles in quite nicely alongside a version of the 1965 Eurovision winning song for Luxembourg- Poupee de Cire, Poupee de Son (me neither but it’s actually quite nice).

An album of surf music cannot avoid the inevitable comparisons to bands like the Beach Boys and The Ventures but songs like School is a Drag and the opener Billy the Squid can certainly stand proudly alongside the works of those bands. The whole sound is 60s garage band with vocal tones reminiscent Laura Veirs or Kim Deal.

From the cover art to the fun lyrics, this album is a perfect Summer treat.

The Neptunas: website