Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA The Looney Tunes - Cool Surfin'
 | First issue from this excellent German band. Trad approach, with very solid sound. The Looney Tunes are on the garage side. Their covers are quite good, and their originals like "Desert Bound" show a clear understanding of what surf music is all about. |
Picks: Desert Bound, Surf Beat, The Cruel Sea, Banzai Washout, The Ambulance, Big Pow Wow, Swanlake, Ghost Train, Commanche, Rumble At Waikiki, Wayward Nile, Walk, Don't Run, Lonely Tubes, Skateland, Miserlou, The Little Old Lady From Paddington
Track by Track Review
Surf (Instrumental)
"Desert Bound" is ominous, pure surf, with a fine melody, and a solid structure. This song stays with you after listening. It grumbles along, growling out Spanish influenced changes, and issuing forth the sounds of the surf...
Surf (Instrumental)
Dick Dale's classic, played with fire, but with nothing new happening in the arrangement. Solid and powerful, just not out front with new edge, though the whammy break line ends are very nice.
Surf (Instrumental)
Mike Maxfield's over covered classic, held to the intent with a trad arrangement.
Surf (Instrumental)
Steve Douglas' excellent tune, originally issued by the Catalinas and covered by Dick Dale. This is pretty fiery, but with a more muted tone and less fire than either early versions.
Surf (Instrumental)
Rhythm dominated, very wet, and very surfy. This is a pounder for the weekend blowout. Infectious and driven.
Surf (Instrumental)
A stereotypical Indian riff and tom toms... but so what, it's infectious and friendly, and very tribal. I'm a sucker for the Indian motif instros like "Apache" and "Hiawatha."
Surf (Instrumental)
Surfin' the classics with Tchaikovsky on a longboard. Nice, but could be more developed. OK, I like it, OK!
Surf (Instrumental)
The Swanks' "Ghost Train" is amped up and dampened, while retaining the edge. Solid pounding surfabilly.
Surf (Instrumental)
Davie Allan's tune reverbed and muted, maybe muddied some. It's chunky, surfy, but not very fiery.
Surf (Instrumental)
Jon & the Nightriders' tune, not as chunky, but enjoyable.
Surf (Instrumental)
Tony Asher's tune first surfed up by the Chantays, made different yet again. Where the Chantays made nice with the pretty shimmering sounds and piano, the Looney Tunes make intense whammy and throbbing vibrato. A nice arrangement.
Surf (Instrumental)
The 1960 Ventures arrangement. Played in a grodie way, this ends up different enough to break away from the "just another cover" label.
Surf (Instrumental)
This Sebastian Hartmann tune is different, trad yet original, sad and spooky. Distant, but effective. Solid memorable riff.
Swimming Pool Assault (Instrumental)
Thick whammified, rockin' riffin' power chord swimming pool assault rock.
Surf (Instrumental)
Yeah, natch... this is one solid performance of "Miserlou," though it sports nothing new. It's hard to not dig this song ya know.
The Little Old Lady From Paddington Surf (Instrumental)
A too fun English surf wanna be tune with solid tone and a friendly riff/melody. It's infectious and sticks afterward as well.