One of our favorite labels, Norton Records, is celebrating their 25th anniversary with a huge blow-out in NYC. When I first started Double Crown Records back in 1996, Norton was one of the first labels I got into when discovering surf and vintage rock n’ roll. Those early Phantom Surfers and Untamed Youth LP’s were played non-stop as I transitioned from grunge to surf rock, and I soon fell in with a group of people that appreciated the sound that Norton was delivering.
Sadly, I won’t be in New York for …

Double Crown will be represented at the upcoming Las Vegas Shakedown fest by at least two bands, The Untamed Youth and The Volcanics. The lineup also includes a bunch of great rockabilly, garage rock and punk bands, and it is all taking place in downtown Las Vegas, on Fremont Street. For some reason they haven’t updated their regular website, so the best place to get the scoop on the lineup, and purchasing tickets, is on their Facebook page.

We have started up our Double Crown On The Rocks podcast again, with new equipment, which will hopefully make it more listenable than before. Since it’s coming from Double Crown, shows will definitely feature lots of great surf and instrumental rock n’ roll (including new, rare and unreleased songs). Occasionally we’ll branch out though – as much as we love surf rock, we also dig rockabilly, exotica, garage rock and all sorts of stuff from the 50’s and 60’s.
We did about 17 shows 5 years …

Although it was originally recorded in November 2010, KEXP has made the live Sonics recording from their studio available through iTunes podcast. It’s a great set, 3 classics and 2 songs from their new CD, (Cinderella, Strychnine, Vampire Kiss, Psycho, and Bad Attitude). The band sound great – it’s only the quality of the modern recording that makes this set sound like a modern band. Gerry Roslie in particular still has that tonsil-shredding howl – simply amazing! (Photo: Jini Dellaccio – This legendary NW rock n’ roll photographer is still …

Whether you like to Twist, Shake, Shimmy, Shout or Slop, the Beechwoods have got the beat for you. These four fine young men from Burbank, California were already favorites at the Sigma Pi fraternity house when they were still in high school. The girls can’t get enough of the Beechwood sound with that frantic beat that’s been known to whip hips from study hall to the dance hall. With Party Time Discotheque, their first full-length CD, the Beechwoods …

It wasn’t the original plan – who would have thought the world needed 3 volumes of Christmas and holiday music done surf style? Well, they have been among our most popular releases, so who are we to say no? This volume has songs from all over the world, including The Surfites (Sweden), The Mobsmen (Norway), Burt Rocket (Iceland/Norway), The Razorblades (Germany), The Urban Surf Kings (Canada), and of course, the United States. While mostly surf/instro, there are a few songs that veer into frat rock, swing and exotica, to mix …

The Beechwoods are a brand new frat n’ surf rock band, that have a groovy sound that’ll make you twist, stomp, shout and work it on out! Featuring Benny of The Volcanics on guitar and vocals, this combo has a sound that’s similar to ‘em, but with a grittier, Northwest style sound. This 7″ is limited to 300 copies – act quick if you want to snag a copy!
You can learn more, and hear songs from this 7″ and their upcoming CD, on the …

The Untamed Youth will be touring Spain in June. Opening will be Deke Dickerson & The Ecco-Fonics – whatta bill! If you’re in Spain in a couple of months, here are the dates:
June 9 at Sala Nasa in Santiago
June 10 at El Sol in Madrid
June 11 at Sala 2 de Apolo in Barcelona
June 12 at Kafe Antzokia in Bilbao

The Mummies are playing a series of live shows this year, including shows in Europe and the US. I searched through Youtube and found a few clips – the ones from the Born Bad Records fest were the best I could find. Kinda weird seeing the boys play on such an elaborate stage, with all of those fancy lights, but heck, they sound great!