THE OOO-MAUS: There are certain bands that could only make complete sense within a few miles of the Pacific Ocean. The Ooo-Maus are one of them. Hailing from Santa Cruz and surrounding areas, the group occupies that wonderfully strange stretch of California coastline where surf culture, psychedelia, college kids, hippies, poets, and artists have co-existed long enough that nobody really remembers where one ends and the next begins.

That same collision seems to sit at the heart of The Ooo-Maus.

On paper, their influences might contradict, but in experiencing them live, it all makes perfect sense. The sun-drenched harmonies and pop instincts associated with the Beach Boys occupy one corner; the narcotic, organ-driven darkness of The Doors another. Throw in the primitive confrontation of Iggy Pop, old surf rock, garage psychedelia, and you’ve assembled something especially unique and unforgivably Californian.

The Ooo-Maus aren’t interested in presenting nostalgia behind a postcard or picture frame; they bring the sun and the surf straight to you.

Dylan Anderson fronts the group on vocals and guitar, Dylan Sheehan guides the piano and organ, Madi Montague brings it together on bass, and drummer Marc Brown moves and grooves casually behind the kit.

There is something immediately appropriate about a psych/surf outfit willing to work with each other not only as a tight-knit band, but as a musical tsunami—one that floods each ear and every listener with excitement and glee.