Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA Collection: Mondo Drive-In
 | A widely varied comp of Drive-In movie themes. It comes with miniature 3-D glasses through which to view the 3-D CD art. Most tracks are instros, and most of those are quite good. This CD should be on your shopping list, and if not, you should be ashamed of yourself. Happiness is a warm reverb, and there's plenty here for you. Jeff Martin of the marvelous Surf Trio put this together. Give him a hand. |
Picks: The Exotics - Casbah, The Galaxy Trio - Titoli (from ÒA Fist Full Of DollarsÓ), The Insect Surfers - Zorba's Dance, The Neptunas - Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill!, The Penetrators - Chariots Of Foam, Thee Phantom 5ive - Mummy Walk, Planet Seven - Lara's Theme, Satan's Pilgrims - The Godfather, The Tiki Tones - The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, The Unclaimed - Village Of The Giants
Track by Track Review
The Boardwalkers - The Angry Breed Surf (Instrumental)
Big fuzz Davie Allan tune. Pedestrian.
Surf (Instrumental)
Hearing Richie Podolor's monster played so laid back, with tepid guitar tones and no attack, you'd think I'd be sayin' Next! Well, there's something here. The concept works well, and the bongos add a fatal touch. I'm hooked. Strange, but lovable.
The Galaxy Trio - Titoli (from ÒA Fist Full Of DollarsÓ) Surf (Instrumental)
With a plateful of spaghetti firmly in hand, the G3 bring in a fine performance on this wonderful Enio Morricone classic. Very good listening.
The Insect Surfers - Zorba's Dance Surf (Instrumental)
One bitchin track. As usual, the Insects deliver the goods with their dueling leads, and the bit from "Zorba the Greek" is priceless. Truly brilliant! No doubt about it. Totally infectious.
The Neptunas - Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill! Surf (Instrumental)
Pamita Neptuna narrates the dreads of violence over the coolest walking R&B line from "Dazed & Confused," eventually yielding to a surfified variation of the theme, with el violente yackage in the back. I still love these ladies as if they were my daughters... so precious. They know no pretensions. Great!
The Penetrators - Chariots Of Foam Surf (Instrumental)
A great live recording of one of the most infectious and fun bands on the instro surf circuit. The performance was at Summer Surf III last year, and my fingers did the mixing, thank you very much. This version is much more interesting than the Surfin' Tapeworms From Venus version of a few years back. It shows the humor and artistry of a really fine band.
Thee Phantom 5ive - Mummy Walk Surf (Instrumental)
Reverby with reverb crashes, it's a very surfy number. Very solid performance. The organ is suitable buried in the mix so as not to sap the life out of the surf guitar. There's a fuzz guitar also. Fiery. Pretty decent.
Planet Seven - Lara's Theme Space Crunch Surf (Instrumental)
Space theremin noises and dry chords open up the track, which yields to a dark space surf variation on this classic movie theme. Very unusual treatment. The contrast between the Hawkwind space grind and the melodic surf guitar creates an interesting tension.
Satan's Pilgrims - The Godfather Surf (Instrumental)
Surfin' Mafiosi! It works. The Greek dance thing a la the Woodies "Zorba's Last Ride" is mighty cool. Very up tempo. Great
The Tiki Tones - The Ghost and Mr. Chicken Surf (Instrumental)
It had to happen. Some one would find a way to bring Don Knotts into the surf scene. Very funny.
The Unclaimed - Village Of The Giants Surf (Instrumental)
A slow bass line gradually merges with a surfy rhythm guitar, and a shimmering lead. It's a fairly slow evil number with a nifty feel.