Vampire Beach Babes

Toronto’s Vampire Beach Babes are back with more attitude, playful silliness and naughty seaside fun. Beach Blanket Bedlam! is the third release, and second full album from the media savvy threesome. The 13 tracks on this latest disc employ the traditional sounds of surf music (think guitars and clever hooks), and are then infused with VBB’s own brand of vocal and lyrical hijinks. The music itself is cleanly produced and tight, while vocally, front-man Baron Marcus has decided to keep it casual, light and loose — this generally works in favour of the songs, though it might be interesting to hear what a more polished style would bring to the mix. There’s a definite impression that this album will translate well into a live setting, maybe even better than on the CD itself. Most of the tunes here are upbeat booty swingers, something that the band excels at, though a couple of more moody numbers have been tossed in for variety. As followers of the Vampire Beach Babes have come to expect, Beach Blanket Bedlam! is more untraditional surf from an untraditional local band, light-hearted and breezy, it takes us back to a time where convertibles and tiny bikinis were all the rage but then adds a twist of serious kink and corsetry to the cocktail. Even the tracks that don’t quite hit the mark are still a ton of not-so-wholesome fun.