Pollo Del Mar pose a conversation-starter for the ages: “What if Beatlemania hadn’t squashed instrumental surf music in America?” While a Beatlemaniac may be scandalized, this intrepid band’s musical experiment is a feat to behold. Since their founding in 1993, the San Francisco-based group has shredded literal guitars and metaphorical waves—they are celebrated as pioneers of surf rock’s “Third Wave”—to bring the splashy, twangy guitar sounds of classic surf music into the present. They release their new record, Speed of Dark, this weekend at Art Boutiki, plunging deeper into their alternate universe of sun-soaked SoCal sound.
Sat, 8pm, $15+
Art Boutiki, San Jose