Description
2025, 12″ EP, Nothing But Nice Records.
The fifth slice of wax from Nothing But Nice’s 12″s series comes from James Andrew. His new one consequents 2020’s ‘Thinking Backwards’ EP, which established Andrew as both a sonic and titular rib-tickler, with titles like ‘Stereomaster 3000’ and ‘Billy & The Clonosaurus’ indicating a fantastic imagination and a complementary jocosity. ‘Surfin The Buzz’, however, gets relatively serious, at least on the A side. Not pure jovials, this title track and its counterpart ‘Definitive Groove’ serve wave-riding sureties with a garage house feel. Laser-guided descents and “I wanna” samples fetishise the groove much further; we cannot simply laugh them off. Only the B-side lifts the veil, with ‘Fruit Shoot Fandango’ and ‘Galactic Dubtastic’ connoting confectionary E-numbers and sour tannins, though the sound is equally as accomplished: the B2 especially recalls the amazing psycho-dub of Children Of The Bong or Tradition.