Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Oh Gunquit, Decapitator Records 2020.
I discovered Oh Gunquit on Dirty Water Records about three or four years ago when I heard their album Eat Yuppies And Dance.
I was so impressed that I purchased the CD. I like to have a hard copy of things I really like.
Their latest album, Why Haven’t You Watered The Plants? was released in December 2020 and it’s available on Bandcamp.
Oh Gunquit is an English band that is keeping the groove and crazy fun of the 1960s surf punk and the B-52s alive.
They’re the perfect party band for dark and twisted times.
Their unusual name comes from an artists’ colony that was established in the 1800s in Maine USA.
They’re fronted by a hula-hoop swirling, singer, trumpet playing, force of nature named Tina Swasey who is spell binding and their live shows are a cross between burlesque and a slightly off kilter rock’n’roll circus.
The remaining members are co-founder Simon Wild on vocal and guitar, Veronica Arcila on bass, Alex de Renzi on drums and Kieran Ridgers sax.
The band members come from Britain, Italy, USA, Columbia and Spain.
But what really makes Oh Gunquit stand out from many of their contemporaries is their musicianship.
These guys are really good at what they do.
They effortlessly blend ‘60s pop and rock with all the good stuff that we remember from the B-52s sound and lashes of grungy garage surf-rock energy.
With a line-up that consists of guitar, bass, drums, sax and trumpet they bend genres on their way to producing their own unique brand of infectious bubble-gum pop, not dissimilar to the path taken by the B-52s.
Look them up on YouTube or go directly to their web-page and you’ll see what I mean.
Oh Gunquit recorded the Eat Yuppies And Dance album in an analogue studio to capture the energy of their live performances and although they’ve moved from Dirty Water Records to Decapitator Records Why Haven’t You Watered The Plants? still has that great live feel.
