BUMBLEFEST 2021:
Friday, September 17
500 block of Clematis Street – Downtown West Palm Beach
UNWED SAILOR (Tulsa) | SURFER BLOOD (WPB) | ROOM THIRTEEN | SPIRIT & THE COSMIC HEART | BEN KATZMAN’S DEGREASER w. American Sigh + Beautiful Disaster + Cog Nomen + Death by Holiday + The Dewars + The Dreambows + Glass Body + Jakob Takos & the Connection + Jezgajams + Mouthtape + Nervous Monks + Soul Particles + Stucco
SIX STAGES: Subculture Alley * Respectable Street (inside/outside) * Alchemy * Hullabaloo * O’Shea’s * BRK Bar
5PM HAPPY HOUR and bands begin at 6pm!
500 block of Clematis Street, Downtown West Palm Beach
2021 Graphics by the incredible James H. Eddy
SURFER BLOOD
Surfer Blood’s 5th album, Carefree Theatre, was released on 9/25/20 on Kanine Records, Also released in 2020 was 10th anniversary deluxe 2-LP vinyl reissue of their debut album Astro Coast, and the Hard-Boiled 10” ep with special guest vocalists.
Founding Surfer Blood members John Paul Pitts and Tyler Schwarz are joined by guitarist Michael McCleary and bassist Lindsey Mills, all alumni of the same high school in West Palm Beach, Florida. Surfer Blood are the cleanest and nicest band in existence.
UNWED SAILOR
The journey of Unwed Sailor began in Seattle, WA in 1998, shortly after Johnathon Ford departed critically praised bands Roadside Monument and Pedro the Lion. While working within those projects, Ford began writing instrumental music after listening to Tortoise, Pullman, and seeing bands like Physics perform live. After recruiting Dave Bazan (Pedro the Lion), Casey Wescott (Fleet Foxes), and Melissa Palladino (Danielson Famile) to play on the now classic Firecracker EP, Unwed Sailor was born. Two decades and seventeen releases later, Ford has continued to rely on the band as a device for personal exploration and emotive narration. Unwed Sailor now joins forces with Spartan Records for the release of their latest moody and cinematic journey, Truth or Consequences, a sonic examination of particular memories or moments in Johnathon Ford’s life, with each song serving as a unique snapshot of an overarching narrative. Truth or Consequences is shaped around familiar musical DNA. Heavily present, driving, and stacked bass lines; wandering and evolving song structures; soaring crescendos and moody diminuendos; and, of course, a gripping sense of sonic storytelling.
SPIRIT & THE COSMIC HEART
“Florida’s Spirit ad the Cosmic Heart offer a warm shoegaze pop sound founded on good production, lush instrumentals and soft vocals, and show a tendency for memorable and tuneful writing.
Subtly reminiscent of sixties pop, ‘MOMENTS’ EP (2021) is an accurate representation of the band’s songful character, bringing forth symmetric levels of dream pop melancholy and twee smoothness. Spirits music comes with a strong sense of openness and familiarity, hence it’s easy to appreciate instantly” – DESTROY / EXIST
ROOM THIRTEEN
Room Thirteen is a collaboration between audio/visual artists Courtney Asztalos, Abigail Clark & Danny Clifton. All three are from Florida, a culture and landscape that has colored their work from the beginning back in 2014. This album was recorded in a 1970’s single-wide beach trailer in the small coastal town of Shell Point, FL, shortly before it was destroyed by Hurricane Michael in 2019. The album rides the edge between light and dark; like a Disney acid trip filled with missing teeth, guitars that sound like crying dogs, & answering machine solos heard in a cruise ship casino.
“Room Thirteen is Clifton’s melting Martin Denny exotica with ghostly, doo-wop harmonies.” –Alex Woodward for The Gambit
“The sound of Room Thirteen . . . is inspired by solid gold oldies, swimming holes, lounge music, and tropical martinis” – Elizabeth Schneider for IMPOSE Magazine
BEN KATZMAN’S DEGREASER
Ever wondered what the love child of Judas Priest and the Ramones would sound like? Look no further: The name is Ben Katzman and my band is DeGreaser. In the midst of running BUFU Records (Tall Juan, Free Pizza, Japanther) I formed DeGreaser. The pop-metal outfit’s sound, coupled with my diary entry-like songwriting has formed the band’s recognizable world of all things astrology, shredding, and self-improvement.
“Ben Katzman’s Degreaser is an alt-pop-metal group from Florida, spearheaded by, as the name indicates, Ben Katzman. The singer/guitarist is fearless in his songwriting, taking influences from so many polarizing places that it threatens to erase the very concept of elitism rampant within rock and metal music”. – Loudwire Magazine
“If the sexy sax man from The Lost Boys got really into NOLA sludge metal, the result would sound like DeGreaser. Fronted by the inimitable Ben Katzman (also known for his work with psych-rock band Guerilla Toss, as well as being the founder of BUFU Records.
