Max Baker is the fourth album from Long Beach, California rock band, Tijuana Panthers. It was released nearly ten years ago on October 2nd, 2015. Their sound is best classified as a mixture of surf rock, indie rock, and garage rock. Given that this band is from my hometown, I was excited to see the first album of theirs that I heard reaches a 10 year milestone. Anyways here are my thoughts.

   We start off on an energetic note with my favorite track on the album, “Creature.” While it isn’t a mainstream hit, it’s still something I highly recommend giving a listen. Even if you don’t listen to the rest of this album, the surf rock sound of the track with the twangy reverbed guitars, and 50s-60s era monster movie topical lyrics, make this a must-play. We follow that up with the track, “Bainbridge,” which has a pretty cool chord progression, but lyrically it just doesn’t feel engaging like the previous track does, making it one of my least favorite songs on the record. I enjoyed “Summer Fun,” as it’s a track that perfectly encapsulates the vibe of a memorable summer, as well as looking forward to it. Much of the lyrics on this album are pretty simple, but they bring a layer of fun to the table. “New Boots,” is a callback to childhood, as it’s something we can all relate to which is the first day of school. “Tijuana Two-Step,” has one of my favorite bass riffs on the record as it follows a pretty simple blues chord pattern along with the guitars, while having a two-step drum rhythm for most of the track. “Red Headed Girl,” is a really strong track instrumentally, and the happy beachy sound of the track really disguises the fucked up lyrics of the track, which are most likely about sexual assault. It’s a good track, but I could’ve done without the creepy feeling of the track, still, in order to have these real conversations about difficult topics, sometimes it needs to be introduced through forms of art. “Angie,” “Don’t Shoot,” “Don’t Give A Damn,” and “Girls Gone Wild,” are four tracks that are missing lyrics on Genius, so it makes it a bit harder for me to analyze the tracks, but they are still quite enjoyable. “Crew Cut,” I found to be a bit boring in comparison to the others on this album, but it’s not terrible, but I generally skip it when I play it. The chorus takes up most of the song, and it reminds me a bit of The B-52s at times, but overall, it’s not one I come back to. I really enjoyed “Girls Gone Wild,” and “Angie,” in particular, as well. “Girls Gone Wild,” feels like a track you’d hear at a beach party or in the Adam West Batman film. “Angie,” feels really emotionally impactful, as while I couldn’t find the lyrics it seemed dedicated to someone the members of the band knew and really care about, and I found it heartwarming. “Prayer Knees,” is another strong cut off the record, as I really liked the religious themes.

   I really enjoyed this record upon relistening to it, outside of two tracks, as the sun-kissed vibe of the album, energetic vocals from Chad Wachtel and Daniel Michicoff, vintagely surf-styled guitar and bass riffs, make for a nice change of pace in terms of a lot of contemporary rock music. Surf rock isn’t exactly a genre you hear a ton of in the mainstream anymore, as it was really a cultural phenomenon in the 50s and early 60s, and afterwards other genres really seemed to take center stage. I’ve loved the genre since I was a kid, so listening to a modern band reinvigorating the genre really makes me happy. And it doesn’t hurt that they’re local either. So while it’s not a perfect album, and sure the majority of the lyrics feel really surface level, that’s not a bad thing by any means. I’d recommend this album to anyone trying to get into more underground rock music, as that often is some of the most authentic stuff in this current century.

Overall Score: 8/10

Favorite Tracks: “Creature,” “Summer Fun,” “New Boots,” “Angie,” “Girls Gone Wild,” “Prayer Knees,”

Least Favorite Tracks: “Bainbridge,” “Crew Cut,”

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QPt5GVwJNk

Genres: Surf Rock/Garage Rock/Indie Rock/Surf Punk