The Throwaway Age

The Pluto Walkers — and their alter-ego companion El Futuro Sonidos — are the brainchild of guitarist Bob Irwin, who is better-known as the founder and producer of the esteemed reissue label Sundazed, an imprint that has spent much of its life preserving the exotic surf and instrumentals of the '60s, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the group's 2013 debut, The Throwaway Age, is steeped in this stuff. What may come as a surprise is how enjoyable The Throwaway Age is, as it holds its own with many of its inspirations and often casts a wider stylistic berth, too. The cover art of a mockup of a fake B-movie from the late '60s signals a bit of the Pluto Walkers' intent: they're not chained to the beach ripping out echoing runs with their offset guitars; they're looking elsewhere, taking sitars on an open road, fuzzing up their six strings, and indulging in a bit of swinging bachelor pad sophistication. A large part of the success of The Throwaway Age lies in how Irwin and the Pluto Walkers fuse these disparate elements of '60s kitsch, creating an aural time machine that's thoroughly appealing as sheer sonics, but the songs also have nifty constructions themselves, neatly splitting the difference between rocking riffs and insistent melodies. Granted, you have to already be into all manners of SoCal '60s exotica — hot rods, drag races, exploitation movies, go-go dancers and, yes, surf — to appreciate what the Pluto Walkers pull off on The Throwaway Age, but if you're the kind of guy who says "Hey! I know who Bob Irwin is! I wonder what his band is like," this is a record you're bound to enjoy.