Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA Collection: Surfin' The Spillway
 | This is easily the best compilation of new artists in a long while. Michigan bands all, there are almost no weak spots here, and some tracks are just plain killer. An absolute must have, no ifs, ands or buts! Magnificent. Did I say I like it? More like love it!!! |
Picks: The Campus Kings - Singapore Swing, 207, Cheyenne, The Lustre Kings - Forbidden Planet, Bottle Rocket, Mondo Mod - Spy Theme, Penguin, The Prodigals - Tsunami, Firewalker, Ride The Savage Dolphin, X Ray Man, Professor Schmiddy and the Elements - Outbound, Hotfoot, The Silencers - Matt Helm, The Volcanos - Twilight At Rincon, Side-Swipe
Track by Track Review
The Campus Kings - Singapore Swing Frat (Instrumental)
Runway tom-toms, exotic bass, strip joint sax, muted trumpet, and surf guitar. Not Lounge or Exotica, not Surf... wait! It's Vegas Grind Surf. Unique sound.
Frat (Instrumental)
Sax and surf guitars plus some ominous sounds make for a great journey here. Alone in the spectrum of modern surfisms.
The Campus Kings - Cheyenne Frat (Instrumental)
Hardly Indian inspired, more cowboy. Nice melody and rolling feel. Drive down 101 to this!
The Lustre Kings - Forbidden Planet Surf (Instrumental)
Whoa!!! Dueling leads, one low-E and one high-E for a very intense effect! Each guitar is doing really nifty things and getting very cool sounds, and the combination is remarkable. Hubba Hubba. This is a monster track! I've played it many times on my show.
The Lustre Kings - Bottle Rocket Surf (Instrumental)
This stuff is so-o-o much better on CD, and it was great on vinyl. This band is a must hear just for the guitar tones. Love it.
Mod Spy Surf (Instrumental)
Cheesecore. A big organ and hooks and coolness dripping ever so slightly from the corners. Where's the Pink Panther now? This is how the Bomboras want to sound and the Tiki Tones approach. It's hard to get me to like organ instrumentals, but this did it. Very nice, lads!
Mod (Instrumental)
Quirky choppy choked hokum. The organ lead is pretty minimal. It works. Quickly sucks you in where you don't want to go.
Mondo Mod - Wangler Mod (Instrumental)
Pumping organ and minimal guitar. A remix would help a lot. The guitar is too buried.
Surf (Instrumental)
A mighty pretty intro - almost oriental. That quickly gives way to a hot low-E double picked storm of notes! Yeow!
The Prodigals - Firewalker Surf (Instrumental)
Distant reverby guitar notes flowing with tom-toms, dancing in a very slight breeze on a strange island paradise. It's the sorta melody that would grace a flyover scene of Maui in a travelogue for the surfisticated. Cool
The Prodigals - Ride The Savage Dolphin Surf (Instrumental)
Extra edgy hot low-E double picked onslaught. Totally in your face! High energy guitar work with a cool surf beat behind. Nice whammy chord & glissando break. The tom-toms and ahs from the male chorus should make you puke, but somehow they are quite appropriate. A great song.
The Prodigals - X Ray Man Surf (Instrumental)
A rolling dum-ta-dum-ta-dum-ta-dum riff and cadence under a Henry Mancini / "Pink Panther"-ish oddity that's quite inviting. Cool.
Professor Schmiddy and the Elements - Outbound Surf (Instrumental)
One of the great overlooked bands. Cheesy organ chords under a simple guitar line. Professor Schmiddy is onto something here. He doesn't play with the force of the Prodigals or the Volcanos, but this is an awesome tune!
Professor Schmiddy and the Elements - Hotfoot Surf (Instrumental)
The match strikes, flares up, and you can almost smell the sulfur. Then, the scream from the juvenile hotfoot! The melody is cool and it's pure surf... less than the Lively Ones and way more than the Boss Martians.
The Silencers - Matt Helm Spy Surf (Instrumental)
Quiet wah-wah under a "Satan was an acid head" sample. OK, so that's dumb, but the track is a drum driven riff with an infectious structure. Not melodic at all, but somehow they overcome the riff-rock nature of it with subtle chords and machine gun suave work and surfy sounds.
The Volcanos - Twilight At Rincon Surf (Instrumental)
Yup! This is one of their most melodic and endearing tunes. A great riff from one of the best new bands around (especially when you include their alter ego the Hell Benders). Wow! Totally infectious and powerful!
The Volcanos - Side-Swipe Surf (Instrumental)
A simple but powerful pumping tune. Their infectious sound and fiery approach carries it off well.