Shimmer and twang are the stock and trade of the Tyde. Sunny days and surfing, too. Each of the band's numerically named albums—2000's Once, 2003's Twice and 2006's Three's Co.—has nestled deeper into an impossibly pretty place that otherwise exists only on Beach Boys records and in California tourism brochures.
Thank Darren Rademaker for that. He's the golden voice and lyrical dreamer of the band. There's also his wife, Ann, on keys; his harmonizing bassist brother Brent (familiar from Further, Beachwood Sparks and the criminally underrated Frausdots); guitarist Ben Knight (Beachwood Sparks, Mystic Chords of Memory); and drummer Ric Menck, a living legend in power-pop circles. Plenty of friends stop by, which is no surprise when you consider how many bands sprung from the Further family. Twice was recorded with the Brian Jonestown Massacre's infamous Anton Newcombe, and Three's Co. features such marquee names as Conor Deasy (The Thrills) and Mickey Madden (Maroon 5).
But again, it's Darren Rademaker who so gracefully summons the aw-shucks imagery and cool turns of phrase to flesh out the band's driving, dreamy jangle. He's got a sense of humor, too, as evidenced by Three's Co.'s fuzzed-out single “Brock Landers,” with its Boogie Nights-inspired title and a surf-tastic video that makes you wanna hang out with the band every weekend for the rest of your life.
It might be tempting to call him simply a tasteful fetishist of sun-drenched, country-kissed California pop, but Rademaker inhabits a truer and more radiant space in that world than many young bands who set out to ape the Wilson brothers and others. He's not just paying tribute; he's carrying on the tradition.
The Tyde with Bolero, Greater California and DJ Michael Stock at the Prospector, 2400 E. Seventh St., Long Beach, (562) 438-3839; www.myspace.com/thetyde. Sat., 9 p.m. Call for cost.
