Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA Collection: Instro Inferno Volume One - Corrosive Rock And Roll
 | Lots of tracks, many from noisy vinyl with no attempt to restore the sound. Some gems, some mung. |
Picks: The Baymen - Bonzai, Les Bourgeois de Calais - Sur Un Marche Persan, Chiyo and the Crescents - Devil Surf, The Cords - Termites, Dick Dale - One Double One Oh!, The Dantes - Dragon Walk, The Four Jets - Jet Black, The Gallants - The Vagabond, Bobby Gibson and the Voyagers - Samoa, The Gorillas - Gorilla Got Me, The Graytones - The Weird One, Johnny C. and the Blazes - Inferno, Johnny and the Hurricanes - Strange, The Jokers - Gauchos, The Losers - Snake Eyes, The Original Surfaris - Moment Of Truth, The Piltdown Men - Night Surfin', The Ramrods - War Cry, The Rotations - Heavies, The Shadows - The Rumble, The Starfires - Chartreuse Caboose, The Tremoloes - The Weird One, The Vigilantes - Caterpillar Crawl, The Vulcaines - Twilight City, Travis Wammack - Thunder Road, Harlow Wilcox and the Oakies - Groovy Grubworm
Track by Track Review
Fury Guitar (Instrumental)
Non-surf low growly guitar a la Link Wray, a simple riff and a stop-start mentality. Just so-so.
Surf (Instrumental)
"Bonzai" c/w "Daybreak" was the Baymen's only single. It's a choppy chunky cool tune that's percussive in nature. A really great lost obscuro.
Rock (Instrumental)
Exotic sounds suggest the Orient, while tone cries out Europe. "Sur Un Marche Persan" is bouncy and fun, and fairly light weight, yet engaging and fun. The organ is unnecessary.
Rock (Instrumental)
Originally titled "Maple Syrup" as The Krescents, this tuff surf rocker is a drivin' powerhouse. A very serviceable riff and splendid backtrack with raucous drums, "Devil Surf" rips and snorts. Chants of the title, and a raw sax break top off this genuine garage classic.
Surf (Instrumental)
"Termites" is a cool little surf instro with tom tom action, pumping bass, muted at-the-bridge plucking, and a simple and very effective melody riff. It's a pretty fine instro. No idea who these guys were.
Surf (Instrumental)
This track is actually a backtrack for a KRLA 1110 AM Pasadena logo Dick Cut in the mid eighties. One (1) Double One (11) Oh (0) = 1110 - get it? It was issued by KRLA on 12 inch, and this appeared as the B-side. It's also the bed for a mid eighties demo song Dick Wrote called "V-65" (I think) which has never been released. Interesting side note to Dick's long career, and nice addition to this CD.
Jungle Fever Surf (Instrumental)
Echoed like Dick Dale's "Jungle Fever," "Dragon Walk" has the same kinda charm and tone. It's a fine instro on the edge of surf.
Super Chase Rock (Instrumental)
Cheesy Bat Man music from sax man Maxwell Davis, originally issued in 1966 on Crown. Very dismissible.
Rock (Instrumental)
This is a tight and predictable early Shadows b-side while they were still called The Drifters. It's mid tempo, light weight, well recorded, and sports a series of calls of the title. Historically interesting.
Rock (Instrumental)
Solid drums and ringing chords drive this otherwise low energy instro. The lead is very low in the mix, and plays a poppy melody. "The Vagabond" sounds like a studio project, except for the drummer.
Presurf (Instrumental)
Richard Podolor's presurf classic "Samoa" is very nicely done. For 1959, this is really closely suggestive of surf. Heavy tremolo and strong low down tone. I like this a lot!
Rock (Instrumental)
Pre-punk rock and roll from the UK. "Gorilla Got Me" is a big chord riff rocker with slid drums and edge. Edgy tremolo and a vocal line or two. The Link Wray influence is none too subtle.
Rock (Instrumental)
Tremolo throbbed riff rock with fifties tinkling piano. Very crude recording and raw edge. "The Weird One" doesn't really stand out, except in the way the lead guitar is so upfront - unusual for a 1959 recording.
Yeah! Yeah! Guitar Rock (Instrumental)
This is a cheesy 1960 b-side that's just a riff and a jam, with shouts of the title to attempt to make it stand out. Pretty dreadful.
Surf (Instrumental)
Double picked guitar, thundering drums, moody minor key riffs, and a weird swirling organ behind a sorta middle eastern melody. The contrast between the mall organ and the surf growl is quite odd, like Bruno & the Gladiators to the n'th degree.
Rock (Instrumental)
The organ plays a subtle leaning note line while the bass and drums carry a solid mid sixties thump. The sax comes along and doubles the organ lines until the guitar comes in and jams. It has a slightly middle eastern feel, but more a runway grind appeal. Sensual.
Maliblu (Malibu) Surf (Instrumental)
That fuzz bass again, in much less fiery track, employing a progression, but little else. More R&B oriented.
Rock (Instrumental)
This is a pretty modern guitar instro with wah wah guitar and a very good melody line. Upbeat and poppy, with excellent drums.
Surf (Instrumental)
A minor single using a riff in a basic surf format, with dice players yakking all along and uttering "snake eyes" as they hope against hope for a winning roll of the dice. This track is vintage progression surf, with damped high note playfulness, and the sounds of gambling addicts. It's fun and infectious, and has a full throated surf guitar sound, though completely free of double picking. There were two versions of this single issued, one with gambling overdubs, and one with surf overdubs and more dominant surf guitar.
Hatashiai UK Near Horror (Instrumental)
Twirly guitar effects give this an eerie edge, but the overall effect is just weird. melodic, but too far into the abstract sound wise. "Hatashiai" means "Japanese Sword Fight."
Surf (Instrumental)
The Original Surfaris deliver their original version of "Moment Of Truth," which is mixed from the two-track masters with the lead guitar way down, so it's quite rhythmic and not too melodic. You can always tell which version of the track is being covered when the band misses the melodic nature of the whole thing. The Reprise album has the lead up front, but the backtrack too low, and Dave Myers and the Surftones' version is quite different, being restructured. It's a wonderful vintage track by one of the great bands.
Surf (Instrumental)
This band has grown a lot. Their early few-and-far-between tracks were unmelodic and mere progressions, but this has a nice surf feel, a simple but effective melody, and twangy thin surf guitar sound. This is a moody track, a little brittle sounding, but entertaining and solid.
Yeti Rock (Instrumental)
This is a modern number with playful guitar and poppy backtrack. It's OK, but you won't come back for more.
Rock (Instrumental)
Indian themes and exotic strip joint percussion under the Christian standard "Jericho" accompanied by their falsetto wail and shouts of "Hey, hey, hey..." It's a very strange piece, worth a spin, but not lasting.
Surf (Instrumental)
The Rotations were Paul Buff and Dave Aerni. Paul Buff owned and operated Pal Studio, used by an ample number of Surf bands. Dave Aerni managed the Hollywood Tornadoes. Buff also recorded as the Hollywood Persuaders. Paul and Dave played all the instruments on the "Heavies" single included here. It's quite obscure, and unusually cool for a studio construct. This track, and the other side of the single appears on the Japanese CD The Cucamonga Years, which collects early works by Frank Zappa. Zappa is not on this track.
Rock (Instrumental)
This is NOT the Link Wray tune. It is a nice rock instro number, though the promise of it's tribal toms is not lived up to by the guitar playing. It's a little too happy for the subject at hand. If it were named "Frat Party At Oxford," it would be better. A good simple melody line and a bit of guitar crunch.
Rock (Instrumental)
This a typical of early sixties European rock cover of this classic tune. It's rather spunky, but not among the better versions by a lot. Some cool whammy chords keep it real.
Pre Surf (Instrumental)
The train speeds up through the drums increasing cadence in the beginning. Nearly in the surf groove, "Chartreuse Caboose" is pretty cool, with tinkling piano, double note guitar, and a saucy sax. A little riffy, but with great drum work.
Surf (Instrumental)
"The Weird One" is a modest surfable instro with surf whammy chords a la "Bustin Surfboards." Echoed and muted lead gives it a Redlands surf sound. It may be low key, repetitious, and simple, but it's very cool!
Theme from "The Wild Angels" Rock (Instrumental)
This is a reasonable cover of Davie Allan's "Theme from "The Wild Angels"," but with less guts. The playing on the lead is very well done, but the chorus really chumps it out. Dolton 327 [Theme From 'The Wild Angels' c/w Kickstand] 1967
Rock (Instrumental)
This is a crude version of The Strangers' "Caterpillar Crawl," but it features very cool whammy chords and a raw sax break.
Surf (Instrumental)
A cool rolling rhythm track with a so-so melody line well played. No where near as nasty as some of their work, and quite commercial sounding.
Fuzz Rock (Instrumental)
With a long sound effects intro, this instrumental treatment of Robert Mitchum's classic hot rod song sports a drama and sfx throughout. The guitar is a little too unchanging and stiff, but it all seems to work well enough. The car crash effects are made from bubbling water, breaking glass, and thunder...
Rock (Instrumental)
This is a bouncy country gimmick hit, with great damped guitar lines and a catchy riff. Entirely cool, like something that Buck Owens or Dave Myers could have made great. A very fun track.