The follow-up to last year's Back to the Beach is on high-quality par with its predecessor. But where Beach was more about self-examination and salvation, Blues has a naturally light-hearted and overall optimistic vibe. The Semis guitarist, singer and visionary Billy Summer has a uniquely off-kilter sense of humor that comes through in his lyrics, his verses sometimes delivered in stream-of-consciousness narratives that rhyme as an afterthought. His vocals are rough-edged yet sweetly plaintive in a way that only truly talented power pop artists can master without sounding like whiney bitches, though he can turn up the rock growl when the song warrants.
On Decapitator Blues, he and his bandmates – guitarist Matt Simmons, bassist Jay Schultz and drummer Kyle Lovell – draw on a wide range of influences in addition to the salt spray-stained surf rock for which they are so well known: mid-90s power pop ("Burnout Beach"), post-Nirvana grunge ("Faux Fur"), dirty gritty Rolling Stones-style blues rock ("Screwtop Wine"), and even some hazy psychedelia ("Echo"). The opening ode, "Fun in the Sun," sets the good time vibe with Summer inviting his lady love to take a ride up the coast. "Ciggy Fun Boy" and "The Cinco" reveal Summer's penchant for clever quirkiness. The former sounds like a Pavement track as delivered by someone who's had a few too many and lost some marbles along the way, with stumbling nonsensical lyrics to match; the latter follows the narrator's unsuccessful attempt to catch the bus ("He didn’t stop. No, he didn't slow down in the least."), and draws to a close with a sneering "Now here's some guitar" that is re-played amid loud layered guitars until the song's conclusion. The album's retro dreamy stand-out "Echo," is also the longest track in the set (over six minutes), and its nature imagery and trippy lyrical passages ("I will light your way up the mountain, like the shine of a million eyes") are set against a wash of warped-watery guitar, strings, tambourine, and even some rising keyboard sonics.
4 and 1/2 Stars
The Semis celebrate the release of Decapitator Blues as well as Billy Summer's birthday at a CD release show this Saturday. Make sure to come out, grab a copy of the excellent album, and wish him well.
Details: The Semis CD Release Party with Signals from Satellites, Sat., Sept. 10, 10 p.m., Dave's Aqua Lounge, St. Petersburg, $TBD.
This article appears in Sep 1-7, 2011.