Fleamarket Friday: Surfing With Sea Munkees...

Sea-Monkeys, X-Ray Specs and a necklace full of soil from Dracula's castle are among the many bizarre items that were sold in comic-book ads of yore.

Garage/surf rock supergroup Darling Pet Munkee aims to continue telling the tales of these lost items in song with their second EP this year: You Better Believe It!

Track listing:

• Hypno-Coin
• Scary, Giant Size ALIEN-EYE Creature!
• Polaris Nuclear Sub
• Charles Atlas (Hey Skinny...Yer Ribs Are Showing!)
• 100 pc. Toy Soldier Set
• GROW MAN GROW! (Ladies Too!)
• Live Toy Circus (With Performing CHAMELEON)

For the next six months, the band will be releasing one song a month - with accompanying history - examining the bizarre knick-knacks sold via these misleading ads that promised fighting skills, wondrous creatures and grand journeys.

I don't write much about music on HeroPress, as it's not one of my areas of expertise, but to my uneducated ears Darling Pet Munkee are a perfect cocktail of The Very Things, Sonic Youth and Devo, which makes a quality recipe in my book.

The band name is derived from both the sale of living squirrel monkeys via ads ("Darling Pet Monkey") and the combination of Sophia Cacciola (drums, vocals) and Michael J. Epstein (bass, vocals) of The Prisoner-themed act, Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, and Catherine Capozzi (guitars) of Axemunkee.

Tracklist for their first EP: Glows in the Dark!:

• Issue 1: X-Ray Specs ( story: http://bit.ly/DPM-Issue1 )
• Issue 2: Sea-Monkeys (story: http://bit.ly/DPM-Issue2)
• Issue 3: MONSTER S-I-Z-E MONSTERS (story: http://bit.ly/DPM-Issue3)
• Issue 4: Genuine Soil From Dracula's Castle (story: http://bit.ly/DPM-Issue4)
• Issue 5: Jet "Rocket" Space Ship! (story: http://bit.ly/DPM-Issue5)
• Issue 6: Darling Pet Monkey (story: http://bit.ly/DPM-Issue6 )
• Issue 7: Kung-Fu Sandals ( story: http://bit.ly/DPM-Issue7 )