David Z. - Surf 60

First off I'm not a "Shiny Happy People" pop fan. On top of that calling David Z's CD Surf 60 underground is a bit of a misnomer. For one thing not only does it have a higher caliber of composition and production values than most indie releases, but it's clearly aimed at a more popular audience and has polish to spare. However, like the other artists featured in this column, David Z. has put his own sweat into this project and he has released it on his own label District Z Records so this certainly deserves our attention here.

Surf 60 is a collection of pop music. One listen and despite my brooding ears I was nodding my head and snapping my fingers to the catchy melodies and song styles jumping out of the stereo. Some of it such as "Thieves in the Night" is clearly techno while other tracks such as the title song mix Farfisa-like organ leads and stabs into a sweet pop confection. Filled with hooks it screams for you to jump in your car and go cruising to a sunny place. The closing tune, "Iridium", is the just the thing to chase away the blues on a rainy day and put you to sleep with a smile on your face.

If listeners wonder about how David Z's got his sounds and arrangements you could look at his background as a student of Berklee College of music or consider that probably more than a bit of influence has come from his collaborator Anthony J. Resta. (Resta has done production and programming for popular artists such as Collective Soul and singer Shawn Mullins). As a composer some of David Z.'s other work have been used by theaters all along the East coast and he's even written two children's musicals and songs for other artists. With this cd though, David Z. gives us a happy slice of clean instrumental pop which is a welcome change from the stuff that is usually played on the radio. You can pick this up from Amazon.com. Give it a shot.

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