Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA The B.C. Sea Riders - U.S. 101 - The Next Surfari
 | Generally speaking, this album is mixed dreadfully. there's a track-wide wash of reverb in lieu of actual spring reverb. It's also extremely inconsistent track to track, suggesting many different sessions of an extended period without regard to quality. The whole thing is mono with massive amounts of stereo digital reverb to ape surf and spread the sound. In some ways, the album is like a misunderstanding of The Mermen's "Krill Slippin'," but without the writing or playing caliber. Sorry, whoever you are, but this is really amateur! |
Picks: none
Track by Track Review
Journey to the Ranch Reverbed Rock (Instrumental)
"Journey to the Ranch" displays forced drama and a middling pace. The song structures and effects are completely wrong for any flavor of surf. The drums and bass are cool, but the weak, brittle guitar tone leaves a lot be desired. The song itself seems forced, i.e. not particularly fluid or emotional, but with drama added to insinuate them. It seems to go on forever, though it's only three minutes long.
Goin' Surfin' Reverbed Rock (Instrumental)
Extremely brittle guitar tone and very thin mono sound leaves "Goin' Surfin'" in the dust, not that it would stand alone anyway. Not very interesting.
Fast Ride Reverbed Rock (Instrumental)
Low down baritone guitar and an extremely murky reverb wash cover a modestly interesting riff. Awful sound doesn't help an unchanging arrangement. The melody idea is interesting, but the execution is pathetic.
The Point Reverbed Rock (Instrumental)
A cool galloping bass line and an interesting melody idea are lost in murky sound and bad mixing. The frequency range is very narrow, and the unchanging arrangement defeats the purpose.
Drums On Surfari
Reverbed Rock (Instrumental)
Just a drum solo, mostly not very interesting, and recorded in thin mono sound. You won't miss it.
Stanley's Diner Reverbed Rock (Instrumental)
Murky to the max, no dynamics, telephone-like frequency range, and brittle guitar. The song is modestly interesting at best.
Reverbed Rock (Instrumental)
"Sneakin' into Trestles" is perhaps the most surf-like of the tracks here. Slowly and dramatically it shallow-whammies chords until the arrival of the melody, which seems inspired by the guitar line in Richie Podolor's "Ground Swell." Unfortunately, the arrangement just goes on and on, and the murky, dull sound kills off what's left. Almost good.
Reverbed Rock (Instrumental)
Pretty surfy in general, with a bit of gloom and splash. It verges on interesting, but is cut short by bad sound and arranging.
The Next Surfari Reverbed Rock (Instrumental)
"The Next Surfari" has a touch of road travel, but doesn't really gel. This might as well have been recorded from across the street! No highs or lows, no dynamics, mushy sound, and lackluster.