Music Review: Tijuana Panthers - Max Baker

Never having any older brothers, I never had anybody really close to me to emulate or tell me about all the great music I should listen to. I was blind and unable to swim when I took my first tentative steps into the music pool. For me, it started with the oldies station, because that was the safest music to listen to.

When I was a kid, oldies meant 50's and 60's music, I guess these days it leans more toward 70's and 80's but whatever. I was introduced to rock and roll through Elvis, The Beatles, The Kinks, Buddy Holly, and so forth. One of the songs that really struck me, the same way it struck many other young men who actually grew up in that time period, was Walk, Don't Run by The Ventures. The Ventures were my first introduction to anything that could be categorized as Surf Rock.

Later, after I had grown but was still in the influential teenage years, I saw a movie called Pulp Fiction. Quentin Tarantino introduced me to real surf rock, the kind that you didn't hear on the radio, and my world was turned upside down again.

Ever since then, I've had an undying love for surf rock. At it's best, it is raw, simple, unfiltered fun. That brings me to the Tijuana Panthers. These guys rock.



These kids are just pure rock and roll. It's impossible to listen to this music and be in a bad mood. They are a stripped down three piece combo who dance back and forth between Buzzcocks style three chord punk rock, easy going riff rock, and good old southern rock jams.



Tijuana Panthers are easy to listen to, and sometimes, when you're cruising around at 2 A.M. with the windows down letting the summer wind blow though you, that's all you need to make it a perfect night.