Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA The 4th Kind - The 4th Kind
 | There are 6 tracks on this demo cassette, five instros and one vocal. The cassette is not labeled with titles. The influences here are punk and surf, somewhere between The Torpedoes and hard core. |
Picks: Untitled #1, Untitled #2, Untitled #4, Untitled #5, Untitled #6
Track by Track Review
Surf (Instrumental)
Crunchy reverby rhythmic and a little off the beaten path. Much more a rock styled melody than surf, yet the whammy chords and reverb place it in the tube. It's somewhat dissonant, quite dark, and sports occasional glissandoes. The drama of the damped down ending provides a very dramatic change.
Surf (Instrumental)
A shimmer and Latin fishing village almost spaghetti western feel open this track. Then, it drops into a more traditional minimal surf riff piece. Not quite melodic enough, but still crunchy and fun. The low key midsection fits well with the opener and ending, and leaves me wanting more. Solid double picking.
Surf (Instrumental)
Excellent tom tom rhythms and power chord punkoidal surf-and-slam whammy tell you all you need to know, except that the dissonant lead work is nerve wracking. Yikes.
Surf (Instrumental)
Grumbly evil low tones rumble under a phone message that lapses into a slowed down devil... Then, the track pumps into a vibrato throbbing rhythm under reverby lead track that sports a basic riff, but carries the day via the energy. The organ in the break is pure sixties console sound. Fiery double picked leads.
Surf (Instrumental)
Grindy punkoidal skate thrash... progression and no melody, but with the sort of power that the Torpedoes delivered in their earliest incarnation. A shredder.