Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA Messer Chups - Crazy Price
 | Messer Chups is one of those unusual Russian (St. Petersburg) surfbands that blend surf and modern weirdness to create fascinating hybrids. This is clearly not your father's surf, or your brother's either. Adventurous and way off the beaten path. |
Picks: Fantomasofobia, Sex Euro and Evils Pop, Chasing For Young Blood, In 3 Minutes Till Massacre, Ghost Rides to West, Bing Bang Bang Bong Kong, Anton La Vey 66.6 FM, Diabolik Boogie, Make Music, But Not Trash, A Plateful Brain, Gangster They Called Horizon-man, Monkey Safari, Not Made in Japan, Satan Jeans, SuperSonik Vibrator, Good Night
Track by Track Review
Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
Imagine a chunky surf rhythm, throbbing glissandos, great drums, and sturdy bass, coupled with digital sampled stuff and a plethora of intriguing sounds. take that, and portray spies on surfboards. Yikes! Very cool and throbbingly surf from stark alternate future.
Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
"Sex Euro and Evils Pop" is dark and strange, with pop sounds like used in Billy Joe and the Checkmates' "Percolator," and added chorus horns and Thee Midniters infectious "Whittier Blvd." bass line, along with rattle snake rattles, and electro tweaky extras. Amazing!
Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
Faux motorcycles and chase sounds run against a rugged set of drums tapping out a kind of spy thing. Honkin' sax and goose-like keys run amok while surf guitars come and go. The bridge is a Theremin kinds thing that's bouncy and light. Very strange!
In 3 Minutes Till Massacre Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
"In 3 Minutes Till Massacre" is a strange piece with spies in mind, but they seem to be robot ants in some artificial jungle. Tribal percussion and wailing weirdness add up to black-n-white sci-fi.
Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
A rockabilly beat drives long sustain surf chords and a moody melody line in this very Russian sounding hybridization of everything you hold dear. "Ghost Rides to West" uses goofy laughs sampled and pitch shifted to create melody. Compelling like a car wreck you can't look away from.
Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
Slow saucy fifties bar honkin' sleaze and jungle oogum-boogum. Drunken Theremin and electro-birds are watching an electronic drain flush. Egads!
Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
"Anton La Vey 66.6 FM" takes its sweet time to get going, but once it does, it becomes a very cool track with great surf guitarisms and moody melody mixed with industrial power. What imaginations these guys have!
Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
Heavy surf guitar, monster drum bangin', tweaky keys, and lots of muted reverb! Imagine Leo Fender trapped in a robot hell while on acid! Way too cool!
Make Music, But Not Trash Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
"Make Music, But Not Trash" might be the title, but this is clearly more like "Make Trash, But Not Music." This reminds me of some of the early experimental Moog stuff - more tweak than music.
Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
"A Plateful Brain" is an experiment in great drums and repetitious keys, throbby guitar, and mechanized jazz. Imagine a frantic attempt to swat an annoying robot fly. I didn't like it at first, but by the time it had gone by, I discovered I was grinning. Pretty nifty.
Gangster They Called Horizon-man Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
With bucket loads of sequenced percussion and layered oddness, "Gangster They Called Horizon-man" screams listen to me, but it takes concentration. More strange than cool.
Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
Even the surf guitar is sampled here. The holiday in the islands forties pop imagery is very cool. You can't have your attitude strapped on too tight with this one, but with grin available, you'll likely grin!
Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
Cool-jazz bass line, drums, and vibes-like keys meander beneath a squonk-fest held in the halls of an asylum. Demented and intriguing in a very disturbed sort of way.
Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
Very dark surf and spy guitars, along with laughing sax, travel dangerously on simulated waves. There's some very cool use of surf here, giving "Satan Jeans" a truly magical sound. Superb!
Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
Imagine an autodialer leading the way while a bouncy jazzy backtrack plays with the weirdness of the tweakery. This very grin-based track is silly and quite fun. I imagine you could use it liven up a party, or kill it, depending on the party.
Alterno-Surf (Instrumental)
With a lush fifties orchestral sound under sustained female orgasms and moans create a truly demented bachelor pad in robot land vision. Very spacy.