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JACUZZI BOYS

Last Updated: 12/18/2009

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Status: Single
City: Miami
State: Florida
Country: US
Signup Date: 1/10/2007

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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

No Seasons Reviews
Current mood:

voluminous
Category: Music

Stereo Sanctity:

It’s hard to write about Jacuzzi Boys without invoking their Florida heritage. As I’ve gone off about when I’ve written about them previously, their music seems to play straight into the same “weird Florida” vibe as their state’s rich heritage of exploitation moviemakers. They seem to rise from a world of swamp ghosts and mutant gators, of turquoise swimsuits, surfboards strapped to the top of broken down Cadillacs and radioactive technicolor blood, a world where twilight and blinding sunshine are indistinguishable, and the beach party goes on forever as the casualties pile up. Putting such flipperies aside for the moment though, any garage-trash aficionado would be forced to agree that Jacuzzi Boys are a good example of that odd sub-set of the music that people in the cold parts of the United States simply don’t make. I loved their singles, and this album delivers big-time, with thirteen bursts of pretty much definitive psychedelic punk, executed in the spirit of the 13th Floor Elevators or the ‘80s Flaming Lips, taking simple four-chord rock n’ roll and somehow rendering it impossibly, pupil-dilatingly weird. The dumbest Spring Break frat boy around could probably get his head around Jacuzzi Boys’ killer rhythm section, sweet, almost classic rock, lead guitar moves and seemingly endless faith in the ‘Louie Louie’/’You’re Gonna Miss Me’ turnaround. But what would he make of the manic tape echo that seems to crash in and out of their songs at random intervals? Or the foggy fuzz burbling somewhere deep in the mix? And what of their lyricist’s somewhat… unorthodox.. approach to getting his tales of haunted cabins, ruined birthday parties and bad acid across to the dance floor? These are just some of the things that help make “No Seasons” the perfect soundtrack to dancing with a mutant jellyfish girl on a flimsy wooden jetty – and it’s a soundtrack I think we could all benefit from keeping within easy reach.

Crawdaddy!:

Miami, Florida garage-rock trio Jacuzzi Boys have proven themselves a terrific singles band with their seven-inch releases so far: “Ghost Ghost”, “I Fought a Crocodile”, a split single with Woven Bones, and the particularly brilliant “Island Ave.” They coulda stopped there, having already ensured their place in many a backyard barbecue stereo queue, but they’ve dared to up the ante with an album, No Seasons, and definitely took their time doing it—people have been waiting eagerly for about a year-and-a-half for this. Does their bright, effervescent sound hold up over the course of a full-length record? As it turns out, yes, it does!

Behind the scandalous sleeve art is an LP filled with some of the best Rolling Stones-esque pop you can hear right now. One might file them alongside more well-known clambake party-starter contemporaries like the Black Lips and the King Khan & BBQ Show, but it’d be wrong to be reductive about the bands’ talents: These guys know how to conjure up a great hook and capitalize on it, tastefully fleshing out simple chord progressions into jam after jam after jam. And they sure make Florida sound like a damn fun place to live.

Kicking things off with the stomping “Blow Out Your Lights”, the record quickly careens into one of its very best tunes: “Smells Dead”, which struts the Stones-Ramones line with aplomb, boasting an altogether delightful chorus: “I light candles / My eyes are red / Open window / Yeah, it smells dead!” If they release any singles in tandem with the album, this ought to be one of them.

Alongside these clap-along rave-ups, they intersperse a few slower tunes. Especially ambling are the title track and the adjoining “Komi Caricoles”—the former song’s chorus appears only once, with mere seconds remaining, before “Komi” introduces a pleasantly repetitive strum for the listener to sink down into. It’s a smart way to break up the album’s pace, considering that side two is pretty upbeat all the way through, and it shows off their skill for hazier psych sounds. “Dock” is side two’s standout, an effortless anthem that’s surely a total barnburner in the live setting, and on the same hard-grooving tip is the album’s tough swagger of a closer, “Your Flags.”

The album also features a more cleaned-up version of “Island Ave.” I prefer the slightly rawer, fuzzier recording on the single, but this new version makes total sense within the context of No Seasons—the production is more in line with how the rest of the album sounds, and it’s still the same amazing song, with a different inflection on the chorus refrain and a slick guitar solo. Well done, fellas!

No Seasons is a great-sounding record. Unlike a lot of other bands right now, these guys don’t need to bury the vocals and instrumentation under a ton of static to sound right—their songs’ sheer infectiousness would cut right through all of that anyway.

The Agit Reader:

No Seasons should come accompanied with a Jacuzzi Boys–crafted compilation of the numerous sub-Nuggets groups from the Sunshine State that the band claims as direct influence. Listening to would-be hits by the Everglades and the Birdwatchers could reveal the preservative passed down through Florida generations that keep the tradition of timeless, breezy, swaggering garage rock intact. In tandem with the Electric Bunnies’ Through the Magical Door, the Jacuzzi Boys’ debut makes a case that there is something inherently laidback in the sound of Southern Florida. But in contrast to the Bunnies’ all-out freakness, the Jacuzzi Boys play it close to the chest, almost clean-cut and fun-loving in comparison.

To these ears, the Cheater Slicks are to blame. In reality “Smells Dead” is the Slicks’ woozy looseness ringing crystal clear, perhaps reimagined as a paisley power-pop outfit. It is debatable in this day and age that the Slicks have birthed one of every five newbie garage disciples, just herein the “slick” is pronounced succinct and capable of breaking county dance laws if not careful. “Island Ave.” is the single that introduced the trio to the world and is strategically implanted among this first batch. It nearly envisions the Jacuzzi Boys as the local cabana band, playing to teenage rebellion in surf and sun. Implying such frivolous climes is unfair, though; there’s really more of a Stonesian mod sophistication to songs like “Komi Caricoles” and “Blow Out Your Lights,” with red-velvet vocals that carry a hefty emotional resonance. Mature as that may read, you’d be mistaken to think there wasn’t some type of party atmosphere, and it would likely play out with the Boys dancing round that Floridian fountain of youth.

Impose Magazine:

I don't care if it hurts our Florida readership, I think that state is a shithole. It is practically devoid of tradition, I hate Tim Tebow and it's where the lamest people from the Midwest go to overcook and die.

Taking these judgments into account, it's been easy to ignore the emergence of Florida bands as they tend to reflect the things I ridicule Florida for. It's been a collection of faux-surf rock blog-praised ninnies that take the genre to its flimsiest of levels. It's like the 60's all over again, California creates it and Florida, pretending like it's got it like Cali, imitates it.

Jacuzzi Boys had the odds stacked against them, but No Seasons could have made our Best of 2009 list. It didn't, but it could have. The record meets the garage quota of jangly shitcan recordings and vocalist Gabriel Alcala is a commanding voice. The band bares a striking similarity to Texas' Strange Boys. The loose playing gives Gabriel's Jaggerish delivery room to operate and he's got the cool to pull off the swagger.

Jacuzzi Boys are not another bland infuriating bag of cliches pretending life is all beach parties and bike rides on the boardwalk. "Smells Dead" was written about bassist Danny Gonzalez struggle with a dead snake in his walls that led to a bathtub of flies. In an interview with the Miami Herald, Alcala admitted that "For awhile, every song had an animal in it." We think animals are badass, especially gross ones like snakes, rodents and crocodiles. Ergo, we think Jacuzzi Boys are badass.

1:28 AM

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Friday, December 18, 2009

Our Boy Roy LP

"Our Boy Roy" - LP- Featuring Roy Orbison covers by:

Charlie & The Moonhearts, Cheater Slicks, Holy Cobras, Jacuzzi Boys, Red Mass, Teen Anger, Ty Segall, Bloodshot Bill, LiveFastDie, Haunted George & Demon's Claws - Out in January on Telephone Explosion Records!

Keep you eyes peeledddddd
Your friendly ghosts,
JBoogies

3:12 AM

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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

No Seasons LP + 7" Split Reviews

No Seasons LP is finished and shooting for an early August release on Floridas Dying.
be on the look out!

Track Listing:

Blow Out Your Lights
Smells Dead
Fruits
Island Ave.
No Seasons
Komi Caricoles

Throwing Stones
Planet of the Dreamers
Dock
I Saw It All
Burn It Down
The Park (Dig It)

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& Here are some reviews of the Split 7" w/ Woven Bones on Needless:

thetripwire.com:

Next up is a split between Miami’s Jacuzzi Boys and Austin’s Woven Bones on the upstart Needless Records and damned if it’s not one hell of a first release. Both bands have been tearing it up as of late, and Woven Bones follow up their awesome HoZac Hookup Klub single with “Grown Crazy”, a slow-slicing shoegaze-psych jam that flares up with rumbling distortion squalls, fuzz wah-wah action and heavily FX’d vocals, basically something akin to the Reid brothers dropping LSD in some palatial garden while trying to play the Seeds’ back catalog. On the flip, Jacuzzi Boys follow up their awesome Rob’s House single with “The Countess”, another tasty slice of their southern-fried punky slo-core goodness. It’s stately and restrained, yet retains a burning psych underbelly that keeps it tight and punk at its core. These are still available from the label’s MySpace, so get on over there and grab some for you and your friends.

pitchfork.com:

Just for giggles, Google "greatest Florida bands -wedding -marching" and a couple of variations thereof. Aside from AOR-radio staples Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band, results are skimpy. Live music doesn't seem to fare much better in the Sunshine State: Weak ticket sales KO'ed this year's Langerado Music Festival and most indie bands on a budget tour no farther south than Atlanta. So what's a young Florida band to do? Miami's Jacuzzi Boys revive the sounds of the state's fertile 1960s garage-rock scene-- or scenes. While the Nightcrawlers' "Little Black Egg" may be that era's most famous export, towns from Jacksonville to Orlando to Sarasota boasted a band a block back in the day and recorded hundreds of local-hit singles that never got anywhere near a Nuggets comp.

Jacuzzi Boys list lost natives like the Everglades as influences, but their live sets probably segue pretty smoothly into those of garage-eclectics and sometime-tourmates King Khan and the Shrines. Still, there's something warm and swampy and, at the same time, slick and air-conditioned, about the Boys-- something distinctly Florida. On single "The Countess" (a split 7" with Woven Bones), singer Gabriel employs both hot n' bothered Mick Jaggerisms and Lou Reed's cooler-than-thou tics to bemoan an imperious, noblesse-obliging girlfriend. A bass drum drives the song straight and steady, but heavy reverb makes the beats sound like they're volleying off damp dungeon walls at unpredictable angles, a sultry and sinister atmosphere enhanced by ghostly surf guitar lines. Jacuzzi Boys do the grimy, gutter-sniping psychedelic-garage thing really well. I just wish they'd rethink a name that (Floridian as it might be) sounds like some kind of electro-clash parody.

7inches.blogspot.com:

Jacuzzi Boys have a new split with Woven Bones on Needless records just announced on Termbo yesterday.
The Jacuzzi boys have been making the rounds of 7 inch friendly labels...Rob's House, then Hozac...this is the very first release for Florida based Needless and they are aligning themselves with a good batch of vinyl single heavyweight labels.

Jacuzzi boys are back with their characteristic mellow, almost quiet delivery...with an acoustic foundation this time. It's almost surprising to hear all the space here in the recording and instrumentation. They leave a lot of space to breath. The more I hear this, the more I'm getting like a Velvet Underground feeling...that far away echo vocals that are barely keeping up with the slide guitar. Maybe it's the tom based low tempo rhythm, or they just really have really nailed this slightly 60's drug pop with a dash of pysch sound.

Woven Bones on the flip are a heavier version of this time warp...the guitar is harder, a real high screechy clipped distortion, almost Ty Segall sounding. There's a lot more effects on the vocals, almost shoegaze in the chorus reverb that has a really sloping decay. Great use of a wah-wah solo...haven't heard that sound used in a while. The bass is somewhere inside all this harsh overdriven treble sound and kind of works complimenting the guitar with this warm rumbly distortion underneath.
It's a great pairing for anyone who is into JB's sound already and looking for more...speaking of more it looks like individual singles by both are in the works in Needless' future.

Both tracks are available to preview at Needless so you can get an idea if the flip side is going to be just as worth it as the Jacuzzi side...or the myspace.

Get it from Needless Records...there may be some clear vinyl 'gold' editions available: (Sorry looks like they are all gone - ed)

Split 7" between Miami Florida's Jacuzzi Boys and Austin Texas' Woven Bones.

Tracks: Jacuzzi Boys' "The Countess" b/w Woven Bones' "Grown Crazy"

xoxo,
JB's

8:15 PM

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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

7" + Yeti CD

Split 7" with Woven Bones will be available in early February on Needless Records.

'The Countess' -Jacuzzi Boys

b/w

'Grown Crazy' -Woven Bones

Also in February, our song 'Black Sand' will be featured on the Yeti Magazine (#7) CD.

Love & Graves,
JB's

6:46 AM

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Friday, November 07, 2008

Reviews Reviews Reviews

Terminal Boredom:

Jacuzzi Boys "Island Avenue" EP

Part of the fun of music fandom and record collecting is when you become enamored with a band or record from the other side of the country (or world) that you know little to nothing about, so your mind is coerced to create these little semi-fictional bios scraped together with whatever nuggets of info can be gleaned from record sleeves/art and any off-hand and most likely untrue word-of-mouth you gather from other like-minded sorts. Jacuzzi Boys fascinate me. They're from Miami. But in my head, they don't seem like Miami...but maybe that's what makes them Miami. My brain conjures up this image of three raggedly haired and dressed locals, who spend the thickly sunned and humid days tending to Southern Florida-style bumpkin tasks: breeding skunks, giving tourists airboat rides on gator farms, perhaps tending to a marijuana crop on the outskirts of the Everglades. That sort of stuff. And then the sun sets and the moon casts a blue pallor across the beaches and a cool breeze blows the tourists off the streets and they turn into the Jacuzzi Boys, conjuring up haunting tunes of driving post-psychedelica that are simply gorgeous. I loved the subterranean magic of their debut platter and this one feels a little less musty and a little more airy. Like, that first record, I pictured them playing in some weirdly lit grotto with watery shadows mottling the walls...this one feels more like they're playing on a dark beach lit by a bonfire while palm trees secretly dance in the shadows. "Island Ave" is all A-Side, a persistent beat carries a restrained performance, musically and vocally, but it's not like they're holding back, they're just that cool, that mellow, that confident in what they're doing. Even when he lets out with a "Woooo!" to punctuate the chorus, it's like fuck, he doesn't have to get all dramatic and belt it out...it's just "wooooo" with barely an exclamation point there, and it's just as enervating, if not more, as any hammy voxxer screaming his guts out. The B-Side is a thing of wonders, two songs that sort of act as one, or at least segue perfectly. "Dream Lion Pt. 1" (and I have no idea where Pt. 2 is) sort of recedes the "Island Ave" tempo back a notch or two, and is, well, dreamy...a quick few lines of lyrics (and I love the little things here, like the way he drags the s out in "ssssssssand") and he lets go with a deadpan "Ohh, get down.." and where any other band hears that phrase, you get a funky breakdown or some bombastic wail...but not the fucking Jacuzzi Boys man, they just let things feedback quietly and drop a few sublimal guitar licks and then the song vanishes. Perfect. Get the fuck down. "You Should Know" kicks in after a brief silence, jangle-fried and as uptempo as these cats go, it's a dancer with strong guitar presence (solo included!) and a rhythm your foot will love. A real classy record that is subtle yet enervating and more than I could ask for in this day and age. A little weird, but a friendly, inviting weird, not an obtuse, you'll-never-get-it weird. After the semi-letdown that split with King Khan was, my hopes are set on stun for the upcoming Florida's Dying LP. One night I listened to this record exclusively for about an hour and a half, and I still love it. Damn. Scum stats: 150 gold editions with different artwork, though I kinda prefer the painting on the regular sleeve. (RK)

The Agit Reader:

Miami's Jacuzzi Boys keep the beach-blanket scene alive, countering the Electric Bunnies' fried future-punk with a hurricance 'n' sweat approximation of Goner garage. "Island Ave." is exaggerated head sways and eyes closed, channeling the Elevators by the pool in reverse— completely built on anthem and surf repetition. It's like they keep on crossing a line in the sand and back again, a loud and confident breeze cool enough to separate them from their obvious bananas-peers. "Dream Lion Pt. I" heartbeats even more in slack and marbled house of the baking sun, complete with a "get down" and red-eyed psych guitar trails. Very righteous.

7Inches:

This is right in line with the spaced out Vivian Girls and The Jesus and Mary Chain cavernous echo sounds that I've been hearing pop up all over lately. But it's maybe even closer traditionally to that kind of 60's garage/surf sound especially on 'Dream Lion'. It sounds the name, this band thing is really a side project for them....after putting in a long day lounging in the jacuzzi.

'Dream Lion' has this slow finger snap, combined with tamborine, high hat bass beat and some far away 'ahhhh' backup vocals. By the end they're all mutated and half feedbacked looped way in the distance...very spooky. The vocals have the right amount of reverb like some kind of classic oldies Ronettes, kind of harmonic girl band phil spectre group, ...it has that level of crisp production and pining over the mix.... there's nothing muddy or unclear about what their trying to get at. Where the Vivian Girls rely on the tempestuous mix of out of control chorus effects, harmony and echo, combining eras...this is a specific year being reinterpreted from a garage in the early 60's, and it's more song centric.

But what do I know about that 60' garage period of music really? I couldn't give you specific names of bands and maybe comparing it to that is complately off base for some people obsessed in that underground. It's my romanticised view of what I imagine was happening....bands in love with that sound, and stripped down rock and roll were hoping to press a 45 and hear it on the radio.

That's what I think is alive here...on 'Island Ave', complete with fuzzed solo. The vocals might have even more reverb because of this tempo, and I love that during the really rocking tracks they go with handclaps instead of the fingersnaps....The vocals aren't ever buried or become so much an overpowering stylistic choice, it's not a yelled freakout, it's pretty deadpan cool 'this is the situation, man'.
'You Should Know' keeps up the dream-rock (dare I say psyche?) groove with more bass...it's something like Deadbolt without the heavy handed horror, just a dead on impression of a scene. You could hear the engines reving, the hot rods drag racing.

It won't be hard for them to keep up on tour with King Khan, and I could see them as a great compliment to their more blue garage sound. They are actually in the Williamsburg soon.....Nov 29th st ye olde Music Hall of Williamsburg with King Khan. My friend Mike (beach house review) has been raving about KK since the beginning of the summer and I have yet to hear their uber-garage blues/make out mahem.

Dusted Magazine:

Jacuzzi Boys
Island Ave. 7" EP
(Hozac)

Dreamy, brooding garage rock from Florida, casting their lot with roughly tuneless vocals but bringing "Island Ave." up on some early Echo & the Bunnymen shit, aware of how hard they can rock but keeping things breezy and direct instead. Only "You Should Know" steps it up a bit, but I like these guys when they're going slower – they seem to have a really good handle on how they want to sound, and it's a welcome model to have around, youthful and cool. 500 copies + 150 gold vinyl editions w/ alternate sleeve art.

7:38 AM

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Friday, October 17, 2008

I Fought A Crocodile 7"

I Fought A Crocodile 7" out on Rob's House Records in late November.

A- I Fought A Crocodile

B- Blowin' Kisses

600 pressed. 500 on black vinyl, 100 on colored vinyl.

3:28 AM

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Monday, May 12, 2008

Split 7"

Split 7" with King Khan out in late June.

1000 copies.

Limited Edition on white & red marble vinyl.

available soon on Flo-Dy

11:45 AM

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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Island Ave 7" + Summer Tour!

Island Ave 7" coming out soon on HoZac

"Island Ave"

"Dream Lion pt. 01"

"You Should Know"

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Gold Edition 150 copies, alt sleeve

Black Vinyl 500 copies

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& look out for dates to be posted soon for a summer tour with the hardest working brothas and sistas in r’n’boogie King Khan & The Sensational Shrines!

6:41 PM

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