5 out of 5

Label: Yep Roc Records

Produced by: Coyote Shivers

I was initially going to knock this reissue for not including any liner notes – like, at the very least matching the original – when I realized that the cover of the digipack, which I could’ve sworn was glued shut, actually opened and had those liner notes, incorporating all the original copy plus some additional contributions…

Then I was going to knock this reissue for not explaining the source of its extra tracks – like, cool that they’re bonuses, but without any context it’s kinda weird – when I realized that the small print at the end of the liner notes wasn’t just copyright stuff, but was actually the extra tracks context. Okay, fine.

Then I was going to have at least a minor nitpick over missing the original CD-bonus track… but, damn, it’s there on my physical CD copy, just not the digital (which makes sense, if you know the track.) It is still missing Shaking All Over, though the vinyl version may have it, and certainly the Yep Roc boxset of all this stuff + more has a version of it, so fair enough.

I mean, it’s not remastered. Should I complain about that? Except it already sounds damn good, its requisite reverb-soaking not at all diminishing the punchiness of the drums, or the crisp guitar, or the precise mixing of occasional keys or vague vocals…

I really, really, can’t complain.

Shadowy Men’s debut was, as per the band at the time, denied as surf rock, but it is surely one of the best surf rock albums of all time. You can appreciate the denial, though: it has the cadence of surf, but not it’s general shallowness, despite S.Men’s carefree attitude (represented in the art and album / song titles) and casual adaptation of some classics, and singalongs like ‘5 American 6 Canadian.’ Rather, that aforementioned precision is the takeaway: the group works very hard at being relaxed, but also earns that chill, touring and releasing singles at a mad clip before fate and effort coalesced into this album – willing it into existing because, first and foremost, they seemed to actually enjoy their jobs as musicians. Furthermore, whereas “traditional” surf (or maybe even stuff cooking at the same time, like Man Or Astro-Man?) has a pretty streamlined veneer, for as catchy and familiar as Ham’s tracks can be, from the first song on you’ll be caught out by all the care put into the details, and the just-so extra flourishes or musical asides included. Songs never overstay their runtime, while 1- or 2-minute manage to full like fully fleshed out affairs.

Part of the trick is juggling more emotive stuff with lighter fare at a consistent clip, but the larger part of the trick is… just being a damn good band, and releasing one of the catchiest joints, surf rock or otherwise, of all time. You might think you’d feel dorky listening to “that band from Kids in the Hall,” but no: I promise you you’ll walk with swagger and feel like the coolest kid in town whenever you put this on, and only mad people and fiends will not be swayed into that same swagger.

The extra tracks, being 7″ and compilation cuts, can be a little less weighty than the album stuff (and be forewarned: they’re leveled a little louder than the rest), but this is one of those instances where you appreciate them truly as extras, and there’s just enough to be an enjoyable coda and not a slog of outtakes or something.