Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA The Atlantics - The Explosive Sounds Of The Atlantics
 | Only the US had surf bands in the sixties. OK, not exactly, but pretty close. The looseness of the definition here which occasionally included bands like the Ventures and among surfers included any instrumental at all, was morphed to the latter in the international arena. Most other countries sported instro bands modeled after the Shadows, and quickly adapted the term surf to apply there. In Australia, the Atlantics were characterized thusly. OK, so they weren't a surf band. Still, they recorded some great instro rock, and did make a few attempts at the reverb sound and surf titles. This is one of their two LP's reissued with bonus singles. It's a good buy, being nearly the only available glimpse into Australian instros available on CD at all. |
Picks: Dimitrius, Express To Baghdad, Secret Of Love, The Sheriff Of Nottingham, Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White, The Bow Man, The Lost Legion, Windward, Rondo A La Turk, On The Rampage, Three Coins In The Fountain, War Of The Worlds, Giant, Mirage, Goldfinger, Bumble Boogie, Chief Whoopin' Koff (Chief Whoop-In-Koff), Glassy Walls, Greensleeves
Track by Track Review
Russian Surf (Instrumental)
Russian folk dance inspired number. From the original CBS Australia album.
Raging Oz (Instrumental)
A raging drum performance, melodic and very cool. From the original CBS Australia album.
Secret Of Love Shadows MOR (Instrumental)
MOR Shadows stuff. From the original CBS Australia album.
The Sheriff Of Nottingham Galloping (Instrumental)
Galloping horse drum cadence and a racing pace in a Shadows-like song. From the original CBS Australia album.
Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White Lawrence Welk (Instrumental)
If the Shadows were a Lawrence Welk side project, they'd sound like this. From the original CBS Australia album.
The Bow Man Shadows Big Chord Folk (Instrumental)
Stinging whammy intro to a big chord Shadows folk dance thing with thin sound. From the original CBS Australia album.
Shadows Big Chord Folk (Instrumental)
Stinging whammy intro to a big chord Shadows folk dance thing with thin sound. From the original CBS Australiaa album.
Shadows Pretty (Instrumental)
Pretty Shadows clone melodic rock. From the original CBS Australia album.
Rondo A La Turk Classical (Instrumental)
Mediocre version of an often rocked classical piece. From the original CBS Australia album.
Hot Vibrato Shimmer (Instrumental)
Vibrato tune with a jam quality and a bit of raging double picked guitar here and there, plus a tad of shimmer and a lot of shouts of joy while the drum solo rages. From the original CBS Australia album.
Three Coins In The Fountain MOR Yuk (Instrumental)
MOR yuk...ugh! From the original CBS Australia album.
Guitar War (Instrumental)
A hefty title and little else. None too interesting. Thick racing pace and stinging guitars, but not much melody. Still, the "battle" scene on guitars is pretty cool.
Surf-like (Instrumental)
Intense racing tune. Big whammy chord dramatic. If it were double picked, it could be a grand surf tune.
Mirage Light (Instrumental)
Light melodic and not too interesting. Bonus Track.
John Barry (Instrumental)
Solid cover, more than John Barry Euro spy guitar and less than surf. Bonus Track.
Ventures (Instrumental)
Almost reverbed. It's "Bumble Bee" a la the Ventures with angst. Bonus Track.
Chief Whoopin' Koff (Chief Whoop-In-Koff) Fireballs (Instrumental)
Solid cover. Not as flowing as the Fireballs, and lower gutty guitar sound. Lots of echoplex on the lead. Bonus Track.
Near Surf (Instrumental)
An attempt at surf, but a Shadows sound and little surf feel. The damped echoplex bits are nice.
Greensleeves MOR Mung (Instrumental)
More MOR mung, slow and completely nonintrusive, almost ambient in the background music sense. Bonus Track.