"those "Hijaz / Byzantine Scales" have maybe never felt so tonally, properly exacted"
The mystical garage psych sonic travelogue of "Mirage" by Portland, Oregon-based instrumental surf-garage-psych project Trabants, as led by stalwart multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, sonic (guitar) provacatour Eric Penna, is at once potently nostaglic, vintage even while also feeling otherwordly and brand shiny new. As a surf rat in a former life, the cinematic leans to Endless Summer and (my fav) Five Summer Stories (1972) is real and purely genuine but the mid aughts sonics, so mindblowingly percussive and rich and those "Hijaz / Byzantine Scales" have maybe never felt so tonally, properly exacted intercut with the super bottom garage psych rock bass line and squirts and squeaks that feel particularly Dwyer-esque / OSEES to me while Penna's chord narrations as melodies has me seeing Billy Zoom (X). AT the same time the ooohs and aaaah feel so exquisitely 60's technicolored and I literally saw longboarders doing their thing.
Rad. Cowabunga.
"Mirage", a spicy cross between garage psych, dropping into 6 foot crunchers at Blacks Beach and a bullfight is the title track of Trabants upcoming SIXTH full legth dropping in June.
LINER NOTES (excerpted / bracketed):
[Trabants’ latest cinematic psychedelic experience is Mirage (out June 12), an album about duality. The songs are evenly split into two camps of fuzzed-out ethereal abstractions and earthly clean guitar tones, all put through a garage-rock filter as the album dips into exotica, crime jazz, Pacific Island Tiki, middle-eastern strings, latin percussion, Memphis soul, traditional surf and a hint of Motown. It’s music from the past that never was, but should’ve been—a reimagining of what was happening in ‘66 at the movies and on the Sunset Strip.]
[“Mirage” is the title track from their upcoming album. It has a mystical mystique brought to life by the fusion of Pacific Island melodies, Penna’s otherworldly vocal harmonies, Middle-Eastern progressions and latin-tinged drums that are supported by Martin Denny-esque percussion. There’s something mysterious waiting just beyond what we can see, where the spirits of ancient belly dancers from Greece, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula are waiting to whisk us away. There’s the fingerprints of Greek bouzouki music in this, which was very influential to Dick Dale as well (particularly on "Misirlou"). One can imagine endlessly trudging through strange and romantic landscapes of surrealist pop-art deserts and jungles, or trading 1,001 stories with Scheherazade.]
[Trabants (pronounced Truh-bonts) is orchestrated by musical auteur Eric Penna. They've shared bills with Dick Dale, Charlie Megira, Mark Sultan of The King Khan & BBQ Show, Yonatan Gat of Monotonix, Tav Falco’s Panther Burns, La Luz, Messer Chups, The Sloths and more. They’ve played festivals across the world including the Surfer Joe Festival (Italy), Tiki Kon (Portland, Ore.) and Surf Guitar 101 Festival (Los Angeles). The roster of Trabants contributors have included members/sidemen of bands as diverse as The Pharcyde, The Monkees, World/Inferno Friendship Society and many more. Mirage’s iteration of the band is: Dave Berkham on bass, Anthony Brisson on drums, Glenn Brigman (Triptides) on Hammond & Farfisa organs, electric harpsichord and tabla, Pete Curry (Los Straitjackets, Nick Lowe) on drums for “Mirage” and drums & bass on “Fuzz 4 Daze,” Bryan Murphy (Man Man) on trumpet for “Soul Garage A Go Go,” and the legendary Ron Dziubla (Duane Eddy, Los Straitjackets, Nick Waterhouse) playing saxophone on “Purple Panther.”]
May 23: Portland, OR @ Kenton Club (album release club show)
June 13: Portland, OR @ Music Millenium (album release in-store)
July 24: Seattle, WA @ Darrell’s Tavern for Surf X Surfwest
Aug. 2: Los Angeles area @ Surf Guitar 101 festival
Aug. 6: San Diego @ Tiki Oasis
The Chicken Wheel will take you to the AP Go Fund Me- and any amount is so appreciated!
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
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https://www.trabantsmusic.com/
Trabants - Mirage (LP out June 12, 2026)
Portland, Oregon-based instrumental surf-garage-psych project Trabants is orchestrated by musical auteur Eric Penna. Trabants’ latest cinematic psychedelic experience is Mirage (out June 12), an album about duality. The songs are evenly split into two camps of fuzzed-out ethereal abstractions and earthly clean guitar tones, all put through a garage-rock filter as the album dips into exotica, crime jazz, Pacific Island Tiki, middle-eastern strings, latin percussion, Memphis soul, traditional surf and a hint of Motown. It’s music from the past that never was, but should’ve been—a reimagining of what was happening in ‘66 at the movies and on the Sunset Strip.
Trabants (pronounced Truh-bonts) have shared bills with Dick Dale, Charlie Megira, Mark Sultan of The King Khan & BBQ Show, Yonatan Gat of Monotonix, Tav Falco’s Panther Burns, La Luz, Messer Chups, The Sloths and more. They’ve played festivals across the world including the Surfer Joe Festival (Italy), Tiki Kon (Portland, Ore.) and Surf Guitar 101 Festival (Los Angeles). The roster of Trabants contributors have included members/sidemen of bands as diverse as The Pharcyde, The Monkees, World/Inferno Friendship Society and many more. Mirage’s iteration of the band is: Dave Berkham on bass, Anthony Brisson on drums, Glenn Brigman (Triptides) on Hammond & Farfisa organs, electric harpsichord and tabla, Pete Curry (Los Straitjackets, Nick Lowe) on drums for “Mirage” and drums & bass on “Fuzz 4 Daze,” Bryan Murphy (Man Man) on trumpet for “Soul Garage A Go Go,” and the legendary Ron Dziubla (Duane Eddy, Los Straitjackets, Nick Waterhouse) playing saxophone on “Purple Panther.”
Penna’s songs have been used in a variety of media such as, Netflix’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Hulu’s Shut Eye, MTV’s Catfish, broadcasts by the MLB and UFC, Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back, Becoming featuring Johnny Knoxville, films like Surf Noir, T-Rex, the recent documentary Blackangelcity, and ad campaigns for Zales, Mountain Dew, Yeti, Kit Kat and others. He was nominated for an Independent Music Award for best instrumental album.
Mirage completes the band’s psych-rock trilogy, beginning with Freakout (2015) and continued on their Mantra 7-inch (2024). Mirage kicks off with the introductory song “Track Zero,” which is in the same key as the final song of Freakout, and utilizes elements of Mantra with dreamy tape manipulations moving in reverse, defying time—preparing us for the surrealist experience we’re about to venture into.
"Trabants are always evolving," says Penna. "We’re continuously searching for ways to adapt, always in search of new outlets for our creative inspirations. We make music for the love of making music, in the hopes of transcending through it. We want you to indulge in it. I hope you enjoy this genrebending intrapersonal travel music that we made, because we made Mirage for you.”
Mirage album credits:
Written, recorded and mixed by Eric Penna at Hemstreet Sound in Portland, OR
Eric Penna - Guitars and percussion on all tracks, bass on “Mantra pt II” and “Mirage,” panther organ on “Hot Brew,” “Soul Garage A Go Go” and “Hollywood Surf,” vibraphone on “Mata Hari”
Dave Berkham - bass
Glenn Brigman - Hammond, Farfisa, electric harpsichord, tabla
Anthony Brisson (coordination) - drums
Pete Curry - drums on “Mirage,” drums and bass on “Fuzz 4 Daze”
Ron Dziubla - Saxophone on “Purple Panther”
Bryan Murphy - trumpet on “Soul Garage A Go Go”
Additional recording:
Tabla on "Mantra pt II" recorded by Glenn Brigman at Skyforest Sound, Crestline, CA
Hammond organ, electric harpsichord, and Farfisa recorded by Rob Campanella at the Committee to Keep Music Evil, Los Angeles, CA
Drums for "Mirage," drums and bass for "Fuzz 4 Daze" recorded by Pete Curry at the Pow Wow Fun Room in Culver City, CA
Saxophone recorded by Ron Dziubla at Supernova Studios, Burbank, CA
Trumpet recorded by Bryan Murphy
Mastered by Nick Zampiello at New Alliance East
Cover art - Dawn Aquarius
Album design - Joris De Haan
For a complete listening experience, play the two songs from our last 45 (available on Hypnotic Bridge Records) “Mantra” b/w “Surfers On Acid” between “Track Zero” and “Hot Brew” on this LP.
Thanks to: Luke Strahota, Scott Pilgrim for the Showman. Stu Pope and Hypnotic Bridge, Joris De Haan, Pete Curry, Glenn Brigman, Martin Roark, Miles Senzaki, Murph, Mike Mackey, Ryan Connelly, Jon Mouradian, Ron Dziubla, Radio Hot Tub, the Molotov Cocktail Hour, JP Balak, Lorenzo Surfer Joe, Don & The Quixotes, Jeff “Tiki” Dude, The Squid Jiggers Blend, Insect Surfers, Baby Robot Steve, Rob Campanella, Justin/Rough N’ Tumble Productions, Synapse Audio, Greater Goods, The Molotov Cocktail Hour and all those inevitably forgotten…
Trabants, Portland Oregon surf garage psych band, guitarist / producer / multi-instrumentalist / composer / band leader / film TV scorer Eric Penna, surf music, filmic, cinematic, indie rock, alt rock, "Mirage",
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