Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA The Vampires - Bat Attack
 | Berlin's Vampires' first release is an excellent foray into mostly original trad with a garagie feel. The writing is pretty good, and the riffology right on. A nice release. |
Picks: Bandit, Speedway, Come With Me To The Casbah, Road Runner, Ghost Train, Jungle Rats, Bumble Theme, Mars Attacks, Leopardos, Ace Of Spades, Night Of The Vampires, Batman
Track by Track Review
Surf (Instrumental)
Horror film organ and crashing thunder opens this set... as it fades away, it's replaced by gunfire and a crunchy ultra twang surf instro. The melody lies somewhere between surf and cowboy twang, with ample reverb and lots of ricochets. It all ends on a big whammy chord.
Surf (Instrumental)
Very cool damped chord chop, fiery guitaristry, and a fairly traditionally styled riff. "Speedway" sports a feel of the raceway in the days of AA Fuelers before the wheely bar. Not exactly melodic, but chinky and very reverby.
Come With Me To The Casbah Surf (Instrumental)
This fine surf tune sports a traditional middle eastern song in a whole new ultra reverb format. Great surf, chunky reverb rhythm, and a fluid feel. Excellent!
Surf (Instrumental)
This is the Road Runners' "Road Runnah" chunked out and twanged. In this much heavier arrangement, the "Pipeline" rhythm is replaced by a menacing surf rumble. Solid surf.
Surf (Instrumental)
This is not the Swanks' classic. It's an eerie original with a slow spooky sound. Very cool.
Surf (Instrumental)
Heavy chord chunk and wham, evil vermin running wild among the palm fronds... surf and pest control... a novel concept.
Surf (Instrumental)
Geez... everyone that's covered Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Flight Of The Bumble Bee" has basically yielded to the fuzzy playfulness of the Ventures version. This, on the other hand, is heavy drudge surf, deliberate and dark. Quite different.
Surf (Instrumental)
A little distortion, a buncho string slides, a nasty sound, and a bit of the old menace. Alien surf for a B&W weekend. The progression is a lot like Barrett Strong's "Money." It grows on you.
Surf (Instrumental)
Thick and crunchy, awash in reverb crashed, and based on a Bobby Fuller tune, this is reverb riff surf, rhythm dominated and tribally drummed.
Surf (Instrumental)
Link Wray and his Raymen's "Ace Of Spades" gets the ugly in the jungle treatment, as if the Linkster wandered off the trail at Jurassic Park, only to discover guitar sustain in a cave where dwellers crawled diagrams for guitar amps on the walls with red ocher many millennia ago. Primitive, just the way Link likes it.
Surf (Instrumental)
I was hoping for a reverb treatment of Roky Erickson's plaintiff horror tail. Instead, this is a surfization of the Mountrockers tune, with excellent surf credentials. The vibrato is chillingly brisk.
Surf (Instrumental)
Neil Hefty's "Batman" is all decked out in reverb.