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In the weeks leading up to Antiwarpt III, Creative Loafing has teamed up with fest organizers and St. Pete Beat to produce a series of videos spotlighting our favorite must-see acts playing the third edition of the downtown St. Petersburg alternative-to-Warped Tour-festival. This year's edition brings more than 99 indie performers to town, with a strong focus on super high-quality local and regional talent.
Ray Roa interviewed the first band to get the CL Antiwarpt Must-See Video Spotlight: St. Pete-based Jensen Serf Company [video still above right], an echoey retro-surf garage trio in the vein of Surfer Blood, but with a more raucous lo-fi sound. Formerly known as Michael Christmas (which was never supposed to be a permanent name anyway), Jensen issued a five-song split cassette with Saylor in March via up-and-coming Nashville-based imprint Sturdy Girls (listen here), and has been earning a hard buzz ever since. Check out the Ryan Zarra-produced Antiwarpt video after the jump.
http://vimeo.com/44973301 - Creative Loafing
Needless to say, this tape is right up our alley. We’ve had the pleasure of covering New Pleasure in the past (ha), so we know what we’re getting ourselves into there, but it’s Jensen Serf Co. that we’ve been unfamiliar with up until this point. Their part of the cassette features a hard hitting and challenging punk sound, comprised of huge guitar hooks (“Johnny Panic”), scorching, evil punk onslaughts (“Clean Air”) and troubling and heated murky jammers like “Billy Don’t.” The song features a healthy dosage of metallic noise, swirling amongst the pummeling guitars that don’t take no for an answer. Other songs like “Lido Beach” take on a more clean and polished structure, showing off sharp and jangly guitars before being totally obliterated into tiny, bite sized pieces. After a track like this, it’s clear that Jensen Serf Co. know how to put together a song that will leave a lasting impression. Also, once their half of the cassette is finished, it’s again clear Jensen Serf Co. also have an experimental side that is greatly working in their favor – take the muffled “York Ski” as proof for this. - The Styrofoam Drone
Discography
Jensen Serf Co. & New Pleasure Split Cassette Tape released on Sturdy Girls Records (Nashville)
Photos
Bio
The Jensen Serf Company is lead man Ben Saylor, guitarist Peter Kokkinakos, and bassist Asa Ferqueron. Three dudes from Saint Petersburg, Florida making surfy garage rock music. JSC was started in late 2011 by Saylor and Kokkinakos and then later joined, good friend and vagabond, Asa Ferqueron.
"St. Pete-based Jensen Serf Company, an echoey retro-surf garage trio in the vein of Surfer Blood, but with a more raucous lo-fi sound." - Creative Loafing
"Let it be known: Jensen Serf Co give absolutely no fucks. And that’s how we like them." - Suburban Apologist
"The Jensen Serf Company is a heavy, melodic, and often noisy garage rock band based out of St. Petersburg, Florida. When they play, footprints are left on ceilings, bodies go airborne, and police are knocking on the door by the third track." - Zac Tomlinson (Writer/Photographer)
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