Kevin Bronson on May 28th, 2013

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“Semi-Sweet” … Well, that’s about right. “Semi-Tart” would be acceptable too. And, perhaps, “Semi-Tough,” although Tijuana Panthers’ new album doesn’t quite pack the punch that the Long Beach trio’s off-the-chain live shows have wielded. The new album, out today via Innovative Leisure Records, mixes beach bunny-inspired surf pop with tallboy-propelled garage rock. It seems forever ago that Chad Wachtel, Phil Shaheen and Dan Michcoff rattled our cages with “Max Baker,” and since that summer of 2010, garage- and surf-rock bands have sprouted up like 7-Elevens on the Los Angeles landscape. Right down to the cover of the Nerves’ rarity “One Way Ticket” (a Peter Case song, circa 1976), “Semi-Sweet” is a late-arriving but emphatic statement that Tijuana Panthers belong near the top of retro-rocking heap.

||| Stream: “Boardwalk”

||| Live: Tijuana Panthers celebrate their album release with a show Friday night at the Center for the Arts Eagle Rock.