Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA Huevos Rancheros - Muerte del Toro
 | A great release from the Huevosauruses. Guitarist Brent Cooper has elevated his guitaristry to the platform on which the likes of Davie Allan and Link Wray sit. While comparisons can be made, the overall effect is distinct and separate. Powerful playing for an excellent result.  The humor in the "snortin' buffalo" logo on the disc does not go unnoticed. |
Picks: Diamond Head, Beach Blanket Blackout, El Toro Muerto Con Queso, Bring Me The Beard Of Billy Gibbons, Super Creep, Ride, Cowboy, Wild Turkey Surprise, Trouble A Brewin', Moondawg 2000, Dead By Sundown, Dust Devil, Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump
Track by Track Review
Aggro Surf (Instrumental)
Ultra heavy with thundering thick power... perhaps the most original rendering of this often covered gem. Huge!
Garage Crunch (Instrumental)
With a rhythm track that shouts "I Need You" (the Kinks) and a big fuzz guitar lead, this sits right at the threshold of Davie Allan & the Arrows, just slightly less stylish and fluid. Though the backtrack is derivative, it's a great monstrous garage grinder.
Aggro Biker Surf (Instrumental)
Thick whammified chords... lumbering throb... and an almost Davie Allan like melody line. This is a very good track, with finesse in charge.
Bring Me The Beard Of Billy Gibbons Rock (Instrumental)
It's hard to imagine a better title... "Bring Me The Beard Of Billy Gibbons" is a progression based number, like some of Link Wray's tunes.
Aggro Surf (Instrumental)
Super chunk, vibrato throb, menacing coolness, and big whammy chords. It's a basic tune, but very effective.
Cactus Aggro (Instrumental)
A plainsman rides among the rich cactus sound of the guitar's round low-E song. A simple creation elegantly demonstrating the power of sparse minimalism the way Link Wray invented it. Exquisitely developing from that platform, "Ride, Cowboy" grows through a vibrato adventure to moody conclusion. Very cool indeed!
Rock (Instrumental)
"Wild Turkey Surprise" is an excellent hard rockin' instro with lots of that wonderful Huevos Rancheros edge, and ample drive. It's heavy, thunderous, sustained, driven, whammified, and more than a little cool. It's a chunky choogglin' monster, like a Link Wray daydream. Excellent!
Aggro Surf (Instrumental)
Amidst twangin' whammy chord dissonance, the grating guitar tone delivers filigreed notes with a suaveness not usually heard from more intense players. In some ways, it has the chord power of Focus' "Hocus Pocus" without the "cute."
Aggro Surf (Instrumental)
Yikes! Through the guitar comes a newly swirled blend of Davie Allan and Link Wray, but all the while it's clearly strait from the gut of guitarist of Brent Cooper. Huge, powerful, and significantly notched up from what Derry Weaver intended back in 1960 when he cut the original with the Gamblers. This is the hottest cover of "Moondawg 2000" I've heard in a damn long while.
Aggro Biker Surf (Instrumental)
Somewhat in the mold of Davie Allan's late nineties biker epics, "Dead By Sundown" oozes sultry fuzz through slithering notes and relentless power. An excellent track!
Aggro Surf (Instrumental)
Heavy metal thunder, epic journey fuzz, and a surf beat... a classic combination for road hog sabbaticals. Thick and loud, yet subtle... very good.
Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump Ally Surf (Instrumental)
Not a pretty sight... "Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump" launches from a "Jack the Ripper" pad into a tangential flight of back ally danger. Thick, throbbing, and menacing.