Dust off those huaraches and break out the Sex Wax!
Surf guitar legend Dick Dale will shred Brooklyn Bowl on Aug. 2, and no one is more psyched than his opening act.
“We can’t wait to open for Dick Dale — he’s one of our favorite musicians,” said Laura Rebel Angel, a Bushwick resident who leads rockabilly revivalists Screamin’ Rebel Angels. “Not only are we influenced by him, but so many of our other influences are.”
Before the 77-year-old “king of surf guitar” takes the stage, the Angels will warm up the crowd with its brand of raucous, high-energy, proto-rock.
Rockabilly — a mix of early rock and country western music from the 1950s — is a drop in the bucket amidst the sea of sub-genres that have burst forth from rock ’n’ roll, but for Laura, the niche style comes naturally.
“It’s just kinda what comes out,” she said. “The intensity and energy of it — its really fun, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously.”
For his part, Dale practically invented the surf music genre, combining exotic scales and hyper-fast picking he picked up from a Lebanese uncle with reverb and distortion that channeled the feeling of riding a wave.
Echoes of his 1962 genre-defining song “Miserlou” can be heard in just about any surf tune to date.
Surf music and rockabilly share several stylistic elements, including super-quick staccato picking leads and a song structure based on the “blues progression,” Laura said.
Screamin’ Rebel Angels formed in 2011 and put out a five-song album less than two months later. Now Laura and guitarist Brian “Bobo” Hack of Williamsburg anchor the band. The duo uses a revolving rhythm section for local and touring shows, but recently added drummer Sean O’Connell as a permanent member. The group just inked a record deal with Lanark Records — a Pennsylvania label that specializes in early rock music — and is slated to release a new record this fall.
Dick Dale and Screamin’ Rebel Angels at Brooklyn Bowl [61 Wythe Ave. between N. 11th and N. 12th streets in Williamsburg, (718) 963–3369, www.brooklynbowl.com] Aug. 2 at 6 pm. $20.
