The cover of Sharkmuffin’s “Tsuki” album.
Sharkmuffin: Tsuki (Little Dickman)
Jersey Shore-raised, Brooklyn-based Sharkmuffin guitarist-vocalist Tarra Thiessen and bassist-vocalist Natalie Kirch follow up their 2015 full-length debut, Chartreuse, with Tsuki, their second offering from Asbury Park’s Little Dickman Records. Not much has changed between records except drummers. For Chartreuse, Sharkmuffin used Patty Schemel of Upset and Hole, while Tsuki features Kim Deuss of Permission to Panic.
Otherwise, the psychedelic take on Ramones-flavored punk rock mixed with the trim tremolos of a bit of ’60s beach pop remains fairly similar but a little heavier and meatier. The vocals also are stronger, especially the harmonies.
“Puppy Love” stands out with Sharkmuffin sticking a cute crush into a raging blender of shoe-gazing grunge, math rock, girl-group classics and Hole-like sass, then pouring the resulting irony into a chilled and salted Margarita glass. The spiraling crunch of “Too Much Fun,” the embattled grunge of “Leather Gloves” and the scorching, spacey howl of “Sully Is a Sharkmuffin” also are delicious treats.
Having celebrated the release of Tsuki on May 3 in Brooklyn with touring guitarist Chris Nunez and drummer Drew Adler, the Shore gals will return home to rock the Bond Street Complex in Asbury on May 4 before jumping the pond for a U.K. tour through the rest of the month.
The ever-busy Thiessen, also a member of Ex-Girlfriends and Kino Kimino, then will tour with the latter as an opener for Waaves. Whew!
Bob Makin is the reporter for MyCentralJersey.com/entertainment and a former managing editor of and still a contributor to The Aquarian Weekly, which launched Makin Waves in 1998. Contact him at makinwaves64@yahoo.com.
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