Well, spring is here and I’m excited to announce our next release and share this cover art created by the amazing Jess Rotter
MANTRA b/w SURFERS ON ACID is the result of a years-long distillation process to make the ultimate hybrid of instrumental surf and psychedelic music to serve as a follow up to our 2015 album, FREAKOUT. It’s coming to you on 7” 45 vinyl May 30 courtesy the premiere label for psychedelic 45s Hypnotic Bridge Records
I couldn’t be happier with how this one turned out and am thrilled to get it out into the world as your summer soundtrack.
I could never have made this without amazing musical contributions from Dave Berkham and Anthony Brisson , exquisite mastering from New Alliance East: Mixing, Mastering, Production, Song Writing , visual alchemy from Jess Rotter who brought an abstract visual concept in my mind out into the physical world with her talents, and last but certainly not least, the support of Hypnotic Bridge Records who have provided the ultimate home for this music alongside 40-some other stellar psych 45s.
Stay tuned for more info…
We’re also prepping our next release. Can’t share any details yet but here’s a little teaser photo of what’s to come:
HAPPY 2024!
New year means new music and shows are on the horrizon.
details TBA soon!
For the time being, enjoy this new photo from a recent shoot with the amazing Pamela Garcia:
Three Very Exciting shows coming up in October inclusing a RARE opportunity to see us play a set of spaghetti western tracks (some of which we’ve never played before) on October 7th
We’ll also me joining Surfer Joe from Italy in Portland, OR Oct 11
Thanks to Vintage Guitar Magazine for the kind words about our recent release, Lockdown in the July 2023 issue. Check out the review below!
We had an excellent time playing the final Tiki Kon surf and turf in June and July looks to be no less incredible since it’s the first time in the post pandemic era that the annual HANG surf party is returning to the world famous Kenton Club. We’ll see you July 21st!
Recent Praise for our new release Lockdown:
“Trabants explore retro blues and R&B across these 10 instrumentals. From the Grinding title track to the graceful “Tears in Rain”, Penna’s guitar shines throughout.”
“…the songs are deep explorations filled with great songwriting and musicianship, and at times many of the tunes sounded like early-to-mid period Pink Floyd’s instrumental guitar workouts.”
“The longest track here is eighteen seconds short of four minutes, and theoverall running time for these ten numbers is twenty-six minutes. As someone elsesaid to me recently, there’s no school like the old school!”
Norman Darwen of Blues Matters! Magazine reviews our recent Lockdown release.
On newstands JUNE 1st
Praise for our forthcoming album, LOCKDOWN, in Vintage Rock Magazine this month! On Newstands now!
Are you eager to hear more of Lockdown pt II AND read about loads of other great modern surf and instro bands? Than you have to order yourself a copy of Continental Magazine through Double Crown Records or better yet, get yourself a 3 issue subscription. Our tune, “Make It Snappy” is featured on the sampler CD included inside.
We’re excited to announce a physical release of 2021’s Lockdown EP with 5 additional songs of original blues-inspired instrumentals.
The release date is april 7th on all streaming platforms but It’s available for pre-order here with a song to stream now called “Leaving Town,” inspired by the fuzzier side of Italian soundtrack maestros, Marc 4.
We’re celebrating summer with a couple of great outdoor shows in Southern California and Portland, OR. Come rock with us!
With all the cancelled shows and extra time, We’re happy to announce a new EP called Lockdown. We put our reverb in the closet for this go around comprising 5 original instrumental blues compositions featuring Pete Curry (of Los Straitjackets and Nick Lowe’s band) on bass and drums and Glenn Brigman of the band Triptides on Farfisa organ. this brand new digital release will be out June 1.
Playing two sets at the Milky Way in Jamaica Plain on september 26th! It’s going to be a fun time with DJ easy Ed spinning 45s all night. This will be out last boston show for a while so I hope you can make it out if you’re in the neighborhood!
SUMMER FESTIVAL SHOWS!
We’re thrilled to play our first ever european shows at Sufer Joe Festival 2019 in Livorno Italy! Details and full program can be fund here: https://www.surferjoemusic.com/festival/2019/
We’re also playing two shows as part of the Surf Guitar 101 convention in August. details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/the-alpine-village/surf-guitar-101-convention-2019/388722695276853/
GRIMY GOODS premieres our new album! Stream it here:
Our new album is a spaghetti western odyssey inspired by the great Italian Maestro’s of the the 1960’s. It’s called NEL CUORE DI UNA TERRA SELVAGGIA (translated: “In the Heart of a Savage Land”)
It will be out 11-26 from Lolipop Records!
We’ll be joining the Premonitions for the FINAL NIGHT of their residency at Harvard and Stone NOVEMBER 27 (Hendrix’s bday) for a special celebration… Details coming soon…
Closing out the summer in fine form as part of a line up of top notch modern surf acts. Come join us for a free afternoon show at the Huntington Beach Pier!
Our favorite festival ECHO PARK RISING is just around the corner…
We're stoked to play a show with Boston surf legends THE FATHOMS on August 4th as part of easy ed's record hop which is always a good time.
We're very excited to come out of hibernation to play with the incredible Tav Flaco's Panther Burns at Once in Somerville, MA May 14. More Summer show dates coming soon...
Playng a one-off east coast show this thanksgiving eve in Portsmouth, NH with the amazing Prom Queen from Seattle. 8 PM and all ages!
We took a tiny vacation from playing instrumental surf tunes to collaborate with our friend Samira Winter on a catchy indie-pop tune called "Just Stay."
it's the first of many tunes we worked on together. Listen here: https://www.tinymixtapes.com/chocolate-grinder/premiere-trabants-feat-samira-winter-just-stay
ENJOY!
We're excited to be a part of Echo Park Rising once again this year! We'll be at the Short Stop as part of the Lolipop Record showcase on August 18!
We're helping our good buddies So Many Wizards release their new LP Heavy Vision June 8th at the Hi-hat in Los Angeles alongside Susan and Roses. This will be one for the books!
BOSTON PEOPLE: West Coast Psych takeover of the East MAY 14 at Great Scott as we Join our Los Angeles co-horts Mystic Braves and the Creation Factory for one night of their world tour.
We're thrilled to share the stage with Guantanamo Baywatch and our friends Frankie & The Witch Fingers Monday March 13 at Resident! Tix available now!
We've been locked away recording tons of new music for your listening pleasure. More details coming soon. In the meantime, we've announced our first shows since August including an appearance at the incredible Winter surf Fest and a benefit show in La Crescenta. See fliers for details...
We're thrilled to be playing Lolipop Record's Echo Park Rising Showcase at Lot 1 Saturday, August 20th. C U there!
We had a blast at the Blindspot Project! One more show in April with the Hurricanes at Harvard and Stone April 14th alongside DJs Brian Waters and Adam Mayes. As if that wasn't enough, it's FREE!!!!
We'll be playing the Blindspot Project once again on Aprl 2nd with Levitation Room and more. There are also some east coast shows in the works for the spring.
We couldn't be more excited to announce this show of EPIC proportions. December 12th in Downtown LA, join us for this all-night psychedelic ball featuring us, The Creation Factory, a stellar lineup of DJs and vendors at the Blindspot Project. This one is truly not to be missed!
We're super excited to have a brand spankin' new track on the new Lolipop Records World Peas benefit compilation coming out for cassette store day. Proceeds go to help homelessness so hear some awesome tunes and make a positive contribution at the same time. Order yours here: http://lolipoprecords.com/#/id/1096767980844244664_289213990
FREAKOUT is now available!!!
Order your cassette from Lolipop! records here: http://lolipoprecords.com/shop/26475412
Order a CD copy here: https://trabants.bandcamp.com/album/freakout
NEW SONG PREMIERE ON LO-PIE.COM!!! check it out: http://lo-pie.com/track-trabants-mecca/
Thanks to everyone who made it to any of the west coast tour shows! We hope to see you all again soon! We put some photos up in the shows section.
Super Excited to be releasing the new album this week! Come help us celebrate with two other amazing bands Gal Pals and Summer Twins at the Satellite in Silverlake. Order a copy of the CD fom our bandcamp
Our next record is going to be called FREAKOUT and we're happy to say it'll be coming out courtesy the kind folks at Lolipop Records in Echo Park, CA. We couldn't have found a better home for this one so stay tuned for more info...
We're stoked to announce this july 2nd show at los globos with Mark Sultan and Isaac Rother and the Phantoms. We've got some tour dates to announce soon too so hang tight...
After a couple of months intensely making a new album, it sure is nice to get out and play. Happy to have Triptides and Seaweed Salad aboard on Friday February 27 at the Ham and Eggs Tavern in Downtown LA.
Things have been quiet here on the website but it's because We're hard at work on a new full length album which is now being mixed. More news on this soon... Very exciting stuff!
We're also excited to be a part of the movie Surf Noir which features a collaboration with the actress Troian Bellisario singing on our version of Sea of Love along with an original score performed by Trabants.
We sadly had to bypass New York on our May tour due to scheduling reasons but are making up for it with two shows this coming weekend in NYC. We're very excited for these:
Lots of recording going on this month but we're taking a break from that to host our good friend and occasional musical collaborator Prom Queen who's releasing a DVD album this month. We took the opportunity and booked a show with some of our favorite area bands who are deserving of your attention. See you at Ham and Eggs Tavern October 16!
We're coming off of a brief hiatus and kicking off a busy fall with this stellar show at the Smell in downtown LA with Yonatan Gat who was once the guitar player in Monotonix, a band I truly loved from Tel Aviv. His new project is no less awe-inspiring. Also, Traps PS rock it.
We had an amazing tour on the east coast! Thanks to everyone who made it out to a show or helped us along the way!
Now, we're very excited to play Dreamland #9 with the Memories, The Zermatts and Wax Children. Psyched to be on this bill!
We're thrilled to be hitting the road next week through out the East Coast on our way down to play the Instro Summit Festival in Durham, NC. We haven't made it to some of these places in a good while so we hope to see some of you out and about!
Our friends at Lo-Pie have added us to an AMAZING show on May 1st with Charlie Megira who is traveling all the way from Tel-Aviv to bring some garage surf jams to Austin Psych Fest via California. This is a show you won't want to miss.
The Falls in Downtown LA just got its entertainment license and Trabants are going to curate a monthly night. We plan to host live music in the future, but to kick things off, come out this wednesday to hear some crazy garage pop and surf from around the world. see you there!
Welcome to the new Trabants website. We're working on lots of new music and heading out on an east coast tour in May which includes a stop at the Instro Summit festival in Durham, NC. Hopefully we'll see some of you out on the road. In the Meantime, come out to Lolipop Records in Echo Park this Tuesday for a free show with the Electric Magpie!
Upcoming tour dates: