Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA Huevos Rancheros - Endsville
 | Canadian garage instros, some leaking adequately of reverb and surf. Great live act. One solid CD of energetic aggressive rock 'n' roll. |
Picks: Drive Thru At Molly's Beach, Gutbomb, Bar-B-Cutie, Wild n' Wendy, Rocket To Nowhere, Ace Of Spades, Latin Ranch, Huevosaurus, The Moth Dance, Endsville, Crowchild Trail, Cindy With A 'S', Bo Diddlius, Please Pass The Ketchup, The Short Happy Song
Track by Track Review
Drive Thru At Molly's Beach Surfin' Mecca (Instrumental)
Moderately paced, sax suave, guitar filtered, and built on an unusual beat. Fifties rock 'n' exotica with a definite magnetism. There's something middle astern about it, but not in the usual trite way. The real question is, where are parts one and two?
Surfin' The Casbah (Instrumental)
Ha! The title is the BEST! There's no similarity to Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" as it might imply. Rather, drummer Miriam Lina is the focus of the track, much like Sandy Nelson's classic records. The fine surfy guitar work performs intense and dramatic flair enhanced punctuation for this rhythmically driven tribal monster. This, middle astern, mysterious, and very dangerous.
Raw Link Wray Garage Rock (Instrumental)
A cow poke food fight... way fun.
Raw Link Wray Garage Rock (Instrumental)
Another unmemorable track, nice enough in it's way, but would be better well recorded.
Rocket To Nowhere Raw Link Wray Garage Rock (Instrumental)
A lot like the second track, but not as memorable.
Rock (Instrumental)
Link Wray and the egg sandwich trio are a natural combination. The delivery is thick and intense. The required Link-nasty-isms are ever-present in this gnarly screamer. The delay on the track gives it that cave slap back sound, while the band carries on at a monster chord chomp pace.
Cowboy Surf (Instrumental)
Cowboys on the beach at Waikiki, whammy island tones, cool pre-Los Straitjackets ideas (no wonder they chose Bane to produce their albums). Very cool, playfully suave, almost exotica.
Raw Link Wray Garage Rock (Instrumental)
As big as it's name, a Link Wray styled jammer, very heavy.
Cowboy Surf (Instrumental)
Slow and sinewy, vibrato moody, sadly melodic, soothing cove drifting tone. This is a very pretty and soul stirring piece. It demonstrates the power a simple melody can have. The vibes and harmonica give it that cactus feel, as does the distant reverb of the acoustic chamber.
Endsville Raw Link Wray Garage Rock (Instrumental)
"Endsville" is a chord progression repeated over a cowpoke rhythm track... sorta like you might imagine Austin CowSurf sounding.
Garage (Instrumental)
This is a very nice surf based number, with a surf rhythm guitar and a stinging intense lead. It's mostly a progression, punctuated with shouts of "we're the Friggs," but it's power lies in it's edge and energy. It's funky sensuous percussion is very cool.
Surf (Instrumental)
"Pistols At Dawn" is a very rhythmic number, in that eighties edge style, dryly chopped guitar, and grungy chunk. I like this track the best I think. I defines the eighties guitar instro. Tribal drums, guitar whammy twang, fast infectious guitar riffs, dramatic power shifts, and a very infectious guitar line.
Public Transportation Surf (Instrumental)
So, is this a dance or like "let's do lunch?" Does it matter? Less cool than "Pistol At Dawn," but still quite nice. This is a fast paced number, employing a chord progression similar to the Pastel Six's "Cinnamon Cinder," with playful string bending lead notes flying stinging your backside. makes you wanna take the bus to the beach.
Public Transportation Surf (Instrumental)
Once at the bus stop, one parks the keester on "The Bench." It's often said that the best art is about things the artist knows well. Surfin' Dave musta spent a lot of time waiting for busses. The beat is slower and funkier, the guitar whammies, the melody line is deliberate and coy, and the innocence of the tune is quite endearing. A lazy day kinda surf tune, shimmering with a view of the distant surf from the bench at the buss stop.
Surf (Instrumental)
This demo quality track sports a very fine melody. The tone is mysterious, the speed is above mid range, and the energy is infectious. I wonder what inspires an otherwise so-so band to create such great and playful surf. Mighty fun, and hard to forget. I've played this many times on my show over the years, because it is so likable, and so melodic.