About a month ago, The Pip Squeeks (formerly Pipsqueak) performed a show on the sidewalk in front of Vinyl Revolution in Pacific Grove – with owner Bob Gamber’s blessing. Enhancing the band’s typically tight groove was the addition of special guest Mike Brandon, the outgoing frontman of Salinas rockers The Mystery Lights.
“That was one of our funnest shows ever,” says guitarist/singer Jacob Ellzey. “We got so many people out there.”
The early-evening jam, which included a police interruption, ended up raising enough cash for The Pip Squeeks to produce 100 CD copies of their full-length self-titled debut, which will be available for $10 Saturday at the trio’s CD release party at the Museum of Monterey.
The Pacific Grove garage/grunge trio – featuring Ellzey, drummer Jordan Levine (brother of Monterey singer-songwriter phenom Lauren Shera) and bassist/singer Miranda Zipse – initially went into Gary Souza’s Real to Reel Recording Studio in Sand City, the local go-to spot for recording to tape, thinking they were going to record a six-track EP. But since Ellzey had been taking a recording class at Monterey Peninsula College, the group got to digitally record two more tracks for free at Franklin Street Studios under the direction of MPC recording instructor and studio owner Richard Bryant.
In addition to the nine tunes cut in Sand City and Monterey, they dug up a live recording of their sludgy “Have Love Will Travel.” The 10 tracks were all co-written by Ellzey and Zipse, who switch off writing lyrics and music.
On a Wednesday afternoon at The Press Club, Ellzey and Zipse talk about their songwriting formula.
“I’ll come up with a bass part and Miranda will come up with a guitar part or the other way around,” Ellzey explains. “It makes it more interesting.”
Zipse adds, “It also makes each song sound different.”
“My Baby’s Cruel” is clean mid-’60s go-go dance rock – these kids aren’t faking it behind a comfort wall of fuzz and distortion. Every note from Ellzey’s guitar and Zipse’s bass is clear and crisp; Levine’s skill behind the drums is self-evident. The slightly dirtier “In My Mind” is an authentic trip back to the first psychedelic era, when The Electric Prunes and Sir Douglas Quintet reigned. The difference being The Pip Squeeks are flying high on talent, not acid.
THE PIP SQUEEKS CD RELEASE PARTY (Special Guests Lily Roze with LZB) 8pm Saturday, Jan. 31. Museum of Monterey, 5 Custom House Plaza, Monterey. $5. 372-1955.