Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA  | Ohio's reverb crunch trash mavens came by the Pit and laid down an hours' worth of surf instros and garage surf vocals. This is their story. |
Picks: Peter Gunn, Hurricane Party, Journey To The Stars, Pesce Vino, Retaliator, Bombora, Son of Dale, Rumble, Surf Beat, Attack of the Fire Ants, Crush It, Daguire, Wipe Out, Shake-N-Stomp
Track by Track Review
Surf (Instrumental)
This is a fine slow evil Henry Mancini power trip, dark, moody, and relentlessly cool. It lumbers along, like an alien slime flowing through the underworld on it's way to your house. In a word, it's BIG!
Surf (Instrumental)
Mix hard driving surf-n-slam low-E guitar crunch... punkabilly drums, and bass thunder, and you get the twang thrash of "Hurricane Party." There's little doubt that storm charged electricity is powering the amps.
Surf (Instrumental)
The Ventures' throbbing tribal "Journey To The Stars" is punked and powered to a frenzy. Strong performance.
Surf (Instrumental)
Beneath the murk of the mix lies an aggressive dynamo of a surf cruncher. Excellent riff and ample power, and the variations in arrangement of the lead work keep it interesting.
Surf (Instrumental)
"Retaliator" is a fun and grumbly adventure in miscreant surf. More gnarl than melody, it pumps and grinds with relentless energy.
Surf (Instrumental)
Ultra fast trashy assault on the Original Surfaris' classic mauler. Distant lead guitar and an irritating mix, yet the power is ever-present.
Surf (Instrumental)
"Son of Dale" is named for Dick Dale's offspring lad Jimmy. Tribal surf beat, double picked, aggressive, slightly melodic. Mean and twang laden.
Surf (Instrumental)
Link Wray's most covered composition. This is a fairly strait cover of the album version, with big guitar ringing edge, and a slightly fast performance. Cut's concrete without a blade. Boss intense performance, thick twin guitar attack, and great.
Surf (Instrumental)
Dick Dale's first surf-named tune, churned out with all the chunk and pump required. The grindy damped guitars give this a unique sound, and keep it from being just another cover. Thick, layered surf grind.
Surf (Instrumental)
Surf thunder, big wham, double picked low-E drive, grumbling bass, frantic drums, and trashy rhythm guitar, which seems superfluous to the structure. Lots of power and an interesting lead line.
Surf (Instrumental)
Thrashing aggressive playing of a somewhat-catchy riff rocker, with a solid surf feel and more energy than style. Hard driving and playful.
Surf (Instrumental)
"Daguire" is a very sad and beautiful romantic song. It changes pace at times. Quite exotic and smooth.
Surf (Instrumental)
The almost silly scream opener quickly yields to a nearly discordant performance, reminiscent of the Not Moving version from the Strange Doll ep. A similarly uncomfortable soundscape, with demented tension. Who can overcome Ron Wilson's magnificent drums?
Surf (Instrumental)
Dick Dale and his Del-tones' "Shake-N-Stomp" is completely reworked. The change is so complete, it's unnerving at first, but grows on you. More of a "based on" kinda treatment, it rolls with surf flair and drive, replacing Dick Dale's chunk with garage angst.
