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Satanic Surfers

Fragments and Fractions (2000)
15

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: Pat Book
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on April 8th 2001

Satanic Surfers are a punk band from Sweden who garnered much attention in their home country and across the world for their frenetically paced “surf/skate” punk. Much of their releases have been released on Europe’s Burning Heart Records, which is distributed in North America by Epitaph Records. The group is perhaps best known for the fact that their drummer is their singer (unfortunately).

After leaving Burning Heart earlier this year, though, the band has re-established itself in the punk rock scene with their finest record yet, Fragments and Fractions. The record is a blistering thirteen tracks that clock in at just over twenty-six minutes, but it’s a blissful twenty-six minutes. The Surfers have an unusual, almost distant sound to the instruments on this record, which serves to bring the vocals of singer/drummer Rodrigo to the forefront, yet blend them in at the same time. The songs cover typically punk rock subjects: the evil of television (“Submission”), the evil of large companies and industries (“Pulling The Strings”), the evils of radio (“When Was The Last Time…), and the evil of disassociating oneself from the problems of the world (“Throw In The Towel”). The lyrics strike chords, and the chords the band strikes are wonderful. The capper of the album, though, is the final song, “The Bass Song”, which is a lovely instrumental tune. The Surfers also show off their clever sense of humour by listing the fourteenth song as “The Lost Song.” The jokes on us though, since there is only thirteen tracks.

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Anonymous (June 17, 2006)

Oh, my world. It is ok

Anonymous (June 15, 2006)

Oh, my world. It is ok

thatswack (January 7, 2005)

Awesome.

Anonymous (September 10, 2001)

Sonik the Hedgehog needs to be fucked in prison to shut him the fuck up.

-Sr. Potpourri

coldjuly (June 26, 2001)

Fuck!!! i wish the score on here went to 20 because thats what this album deserves...The best from the surfers.Definitley their most emotional.
ALL the songs on this record are great! And how rodrigo manages to drum so technically and sing so well is fuckin beyond me. The tempo is slowed down yeah, but still a fuckin awesome CD.

Anonymous (April 10, 2001)

I may not be the biggest Satanic Surfer fan this side of the ocean, but I do know good catchy music when I come across it. I own everyone of their albums that I've seen available. Out of the four albums I have, thsi one is defenitly their most talented instrumental wise. They did chill out and slow down for this album, but only for the better. If you are looking for an album that has tons of catchy songs that will get stuck in your head all day, this is the album for you!

Anonymous (April 9, 2001)

Hey, why don't you give the guy a break? Do you have a personal vendetta or something? He's doing a review for as it should be, a review of the music, not how "punk" it is. I'm not going to try to make as a ridiculous statement as to say that I "understand punk rock" or whatever the fuck that means, but I think the Surfers are about as punk as they come. They didn't take the so-called 'sellout' path, and actually took a step down, moving from Burning Heart/Epitaph to Bad Taste. They play shows for under $10. They write lyrics about all sorts of topics, from unionized workers, to male chauvanism, to relationships and family. I own CDs spanning pretty much the entire 'punk' genre, from alkaline trio to saves the day to no use for a name to boy sets fire to refused to raised fist. The Surfers have pulled off an extremely rare feat in recording four albums that each have a completely different sound yet retain the true spirit of the band. Fragments and Fractions is a good album, though a bit short, and not their best work, but kudos to Satanic Surfers for expanind their bounds.
Kudos too to Pat Book, keep up the good work. While I may not necessarily agree with you in some places, it's always interesting to hear a second opinion. And if Mr. "Anonymous" is reading, why don't you try writing a review? It's harder than it looks.

Anonymous (April 9, 2001)

punknews.org, please stop taking reviews from such an idiot as Pat Brook, he is ignorant and doesn't understand true punk rock. he is just one of those wankers that likes eve 6