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Frank's Guitar Junkpile - Big Guitar Show Livedotdotdot
artworkFrank Novicki has been playing around the surf scene for a while. In the late eighties, he replaced Joe Kelly on lead guitar in the Shockwaves. After Jon (guitar) and Stretch (drums) bailed out, he carried on as a trio with original bassist Randy Hyden and drummer Joey Myers. Frank currently fronts the Slow Gin Joes, and has put together a new instro outfit called Frank's Guitar Junkpile. These tracks were caught live at Big Myke Destiny's "Big Guitar Show Live" event at Fuel in San Jose on February 23rd, 1999. This is their first public appearance, and if I had to guess, this will likely be the only document of this band.
Picks: Caught Inside, A-minor Explosion, Creepy Crawly, Great Highway, Instro-Mentally III, Chain Link

Track by Track Review


Caught Inside dotdotdot
Garage Surf (Instrumental)

Raw riff rockin' glissandoed garage surf and frat grind. Lots of twang and spunk. Not very melodic, and more bluesy than surf.

A-minor Explosion dotdotdot
Surf (Instrumental)

A garage blast, a stompin' double picked rage, a high powered close out. This relies on speed, and a riff that's almost melodic. The surf power is clear, but it's a bit more riffy than melodic. Great drums from Joey Meyers.

Creepy Crawly dotdotdotdot
Surf (Instrumental)

Opening with a countdown behind the bridge and string swipes a la "Apache," this slow and very cool number spills out reverb like it was wine. Very nice indeed. There's a sense quirkiness, and delicacy, until midway through when high powered surf slaughter takes over. This is definitely the track of choice from this set.

Great Highway dotdotdot
Surf (Instrumental)

A long drum intro, probably longer than planned due to Frank not quite being ready to start, but once it gets going, it's low-E open road monster, with a nod to Duane Eddy. Infectious, powerful, and grodie.

Instro-Mentally III dotdotdotdot
Surf (Instrumental)

Slaughter on the tortured tubes of Mavericks, big surge danger and dark fast cut backs. This is a mighty tasty bit of riff rockin' surf. The big drama of the whammy and bass midsection is a very tasty counter to the powerdrive of the main body of the tune.

Chain Link dotdotdotdot
Surf (Instrumental)

Frank wrote this as a "tribute-slash-ripoff to the Linkster, of course." It gradually comes in from a "Jack the Ripper" bass line, and takes off with very heavily influenced guitar power from the same tune. It's more like an improve built around Link Wray's famous tune. Still, it has no shortage of raging edge and magnetism, and slithering glissandoes and damped surf chops.