Search - Mermen :: Krill Slippin

A Celestial Wall Of Sound

Eric A. Morgan | Fullerton, CA | 11/28/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In my own humble opinion, Jim Thomas is one of the most creative, gifted and articulate guitarists around. Every song here is thoughtfully arranged, and brought to life in a simple yet, undeniably beautiful fashion. Granted this is their first studio effort, and bigger productions lay ahead. However, all of these songs reveal what is at the heart of The Mermen: Epic-sized surf with a delicate soul. This is also much more represntative of their 'live' sound. No generic, three-chord, go-go beach tunes here, this is majestic and ominous surf rock for the future."

The first release--a benchmark recording

Eric A. Morgan | 07/02/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Krill Slipping is a good collection of music. It is easily the most accessible of their recordings, and shows their hommage to 60's style surf music. That being said, the Mermen redefine the Genre for the post modern, post psychedelic era. Lets face it gang the genie is out of the bottle. Roll with it. This is not my favorite Mermen CD, however, they are all recordings that, if not to kill for, at least to have and to hold. This is recently reissued, so get it while you can. The Mermen are easily the greatest psychedelic, greatest surf, and simply the heaviest band that there ever was. Get every CD you can. Also, if you like the Mermen, check out he Surf Coasters."

Awesome surf music

Edvard Odessia | North America | 07/14/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The opening track, Ocean Beach, alone is worth the price. I have seen the Mermen in person several times, and one has to SEE Jim Thomas, and be a guitar player, to appreciate the way this man manhandles the instrument. He is a player who will never be duplicated. He routinely grabs sequences of maximum-finger-stretching chords through eighth-note-speed passages...while staring intensely at audience members, away from his guitar. I think he uses bridge-cable-gauge strings to keep from ripping them apart.



Part of surf music, I think, is an attempt to communicate the vastness of the ocean and sky when you're floating on the surface. You don't get the same sensations from the deck of a boat that you get on a surfboard. Since the sea is the most dynamic medium of forces a man can enter, only a dynamic artistic medium, like music, can begin to describe it. If it could be represented statically, surfers would paint.



Hence the spacious guitar effects and strange song titles, and mindbending compound adjectives necessary to describe the music.



This is an early album, and the production is not pro enough to capture the excitement of every song, but if you like surf music at all, you should try this modern update."