Satanic Surfers

Slowly but surely, the Satanic Surfers have grown to be one of my favourite bands. This is partly because each of their four full albums (Hero of our Time, 666 Motor Inn, Going Nowhere Fast, Fragments and Fractions) has its own unique sound that is so different from the others, yet is still distinctly Satanic Surfers and still very good.

Hero of our Time is their first full album, relesed under Burning Heart Records. This is some of their lightest, poppiest material, but still very fast. Through 12 songs (plus a bonus instrumental) the CD is full of strong guitar work, catchy melodies, the odd guitar solo, and just enough hooks and time-changes to keep you interested. To me, the best songs are the last two, "Good Morning", and "Head Under Water", as well as the second track "Better off Today" (which they've used in the past to open live sets). The low point of the album is probably "Armless Skater", which is another rendition of the useless song "Hank" from an earlier release. As to the rest of the album, I don't really have anything bad to say about the songs, although none besides the three mentioned already really stand out (except maybe "The Treaty and the Bridge).

About the only problem with this otherwise fine album is lack of variety. But then again, most skate-punk albums aren't known for their great diversity of styles are they? And for the Surfers, variety is found from one album to another, which is just fine with me.

Note: The Satanic Surfers recorded two more albums with Burning Heart, then moved back to Bad Taste Records.