I count The Semis among my favorite local bands, and the foursome's latest self-released LP, Decapitator Blues, only drives this love home.
The follow-up to last year's five-star 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. Guitarist, singer and band 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 hazy psychedelia ("Echo").
Click here to read the full album review, and make sure to come out and celebrate the release of Decapitator Blues as well as Billy Summer's birthday at this Saturday's CD release show.
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 8-14, 2011.