Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA Freakout Guitars - Freakout!!
 | Freakout!! has not one drop of freakout guitar... but it has some very nice tremolo guitar and reverbed guitar, and is well played. half the cuts merit attention, the other half are completely dismissible. |
Picks: There's A Kind Of Hush, Sunrise, Sunset, Down With It, Sun Spots, Dig Ye Deep
Track by Track Review
Ruby Tuesday Pop Rock (Instrumental)
Tremolo guitar, modulated second guitar, and a gentle backtrack deliver a slushy version of The Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday." While very pleasant, it's quite unremarkable.
Pop Rock (Instrumental)
"There's A Kind Of Hush" was made famous by Herman's Hermits, and this is every bit as easy and poppy as that little teeny bopper, though the lead guitar's tremolo and liquid sound occasionally suggest surf roots.
Near Surf (Instrumental)
Jerry Bock's "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler On The Roof is done pretty nicely. The lead guitar is gently whammied and reverbed. The back track is regular rock, but this could easily fit between a couple of moody melody surf instros, or be adapted to the genre the rest of the way. Quite nice.
Pop Rock (Instrumental)
Melodically not the same, but the rhythm track liberally borrows from The Doors' "Hello, I Love You." While pretty jammy, "Theme To A Theme" is nonetheless not bad.
Surfabilly (Instrumental)
Surprisingly surfabilly like, this guitar boogie is fairly liquid and fun. I didn't think it would survive the sniff test, but it did. Some nice licks and an easy country boogie gate. In the end, I liked this more than I care to admit.
Near Surf (Instrumental)
"Sun Spots" is a slow blues interpretation of "The Lonesome Road" that's drenched in tremolo and near-reverb guitar. It shimmers and trembles gently, and is very pretty.
Pop Rock (Instrumental)
Much like "The Madison" or "Madison Time," this is derivative and just so-so. The bright spot if the muted chop chords in reverb in the mid section, which salvages the song.
Playback Pop Rock (Instrumental)
A basic blues progression and liberally lifted licks from standards of the fifties. All jam, not much style, yet spunky.
Heaven Is High Pop Rock (Instrumental)
Well, "Heaven Is High" is fun and bouncy, but you remember its name in the morning. Too jammy.
Near Surf (Instrumental)
A little too much influence from "Rumble," but with light ringing surf tone. The drama of the beat and light tone are not beefed up by a slushy backtrack. That said, it kinda works, but gets too repetitious.