Album Review: Going Swimming - Deadtime Stories

Deadtime Stories' opener Them Shakes might just be the anti-song of the summer.

It's two-and-a-half minutes of nervous rhythms, throaty vocal delivery and ugly distortion feels like something out of a Brian Wilson fever dream, imbuing surf rock's typically clean, reverb-heavy guitars and kick-back-and-burn-one vibes with a jittery and cynical punk aesthetic. Through all the weirdness, Going Swimming's debut maintains irresistible catchiness — the hook-heavy Hooligan rails on about aspirational football hooliganism (complete with a chorus of "oi"s) while the warped Yoko, Oh No! boasts some killer riffage. This is surf rock for people who hate the beach.