Furious Nakamura: “Extendida Playa” (2024) CD Review

A couple of weeks ago, I saw Furious Nakamura perform at the Maui Sugar Mill Saloon. It was quite a night of music, with four great bands. Furious Nakamura kicked off the night with a stellar set of delicious surf rock instrumentals (vocalists from Backbiter joined them on two songs), putting everything in motion. I was happy to take home with me a copy of the trio’s EP, Extendida Playa, an obviously playful title, which I love. And that was part of the group’s charm that night, their sense of fun, their sense of play, their sense of humor. The songs on this EP are all covers, all of which, if I recall correctly, they played that night (though there had been some talk of skipping one of them before they thought better of it).

They open the EP with the Hawaii Five-O theme, written by Morton Stevens, and a hit for The Ventures. Like the original and the Ventures versions, this one begins with some good stuff on drums. Drummer John Collinson gives it a little something extra, which I appreciate. The band, by the way, in addition to Collinson, includes Steve Reed on bass, and Charlie V on guitar. This rendition has a great raw edge, and is fun. They follow that with “Wait For The Blackout,” a song by The Damned. It was the lead track from the 1980 LP The Black Album, and was also released as a single. Furious Nakamura delivers a fantastic surf punk rendition. I’m especially digging that bass line. There is also a cool lead on guitar before the trio jumps back into the main section of the song. The next time the guitar takes over, there is that nod to “Yankee Doodle,” which seems more pronounced in this instrumental version, since The Damned have other lyrics in that moment: “In darkness there is no sin/Light only brings the fear/Nothing to corrupt the eyes/There is no vision here.” And then back into the fray they go, giving us precisely what we want and coming out largely unscathed.

The band then gets funky with a cover of “Cissy Strut,” which, as I imagine everyone knows, is an incredibly cool tune. It was included on The Meters’ self-titled debut album, and also released as a single. These guys deliver a really good rendition here, popping with energy. I remember this tune being a highlight of the trio’s live set too. And speaking of that live show I caught, “Surf Rider” was the song they had briefly toyed with skipping that night. It’s a song that gets a lot of play, but there’s a damn good reason for it, and that is that it is a delicious number. I suppose it might also be due to the fact that Quentin Tarantino used it in Pulp Fiction. But hey, Tarantino doesn’t generally pick mediocre songs for his films. Anyway, Furious Nakamura doesn’t hold back here, delivering a strong rendition featuring some great guitar work. The EP then concludes with “Highway Star.” When I saw these guys in concert, Jonathan Hall of Backbiter joined them on vocals for it (and delivered a pretty fantastic performance, I might add). The version here is instrumental, but the power and energy are there, no question. This was always one of my favorite Deep Purple songs, and the guitar part fits so perfectly in a surf context. Who knew? The trio is seriously rocking here, and Deep Purple fans, and hard rock fans in general, should love it.

CD Track List

1. Hawaii Five-O
2. Wait For The Blackout
3. Cissy Strut
4. Surf Rider
5. Highway Star

Extendida Playa was released on March 4, 2024.