Reverb Central .:. Review .:.

Alan Jenkins' Thurston Lava Tube continue to trash boundaries with creative and tweaky instrumentals that lean on surf. This is an adventurous CD, and not at all for the purist. If strange music is your thing, or you are truly adventurous, this CD has just what you're looking for. There's nothing normal about it, yet it's not stupid gimmicky at all.

Picks: Penetration, Gluon Boy, Lumpy Gravy, The Man With No Ping, Dogmatic, Lullaby Of the Leaves, func_surf entity, Rocket Science, Being And Nothingness, Pempslider, Fox Sharp, Badger Minor, Don't Eat Aluminium, Dogs Are From Pluto, Forget About Freeman

Surf (Instrumental)

Well now, this is a different arrangement of the Pyramids' "Penetration." The constantly churning Leslie drone gives it an astral feeling, while the bell-tone break lead furthers the hypnotic effect. The guitar is not quite the main event on this aural soundscape.

Surf (Instrumental)

"Gluon Boy" is an interesting track, with dark fuzz and echoed salt water guitar lines, offset by organ and dangerous effects. Futurist and intense, spacy and thematic, and feedback and distortion laden verses.

Surf (Instrumental)

Completely unlike their earlier version, Frank Zappa's "Lumpy Gravy" rocks and develops a surf edge. It's just tweaky enough to do justice to its author, just surfable enough to play nicely on the curl, and just psychedelic enough to cross onto that stage. It all ends with sirens and a bugle call.

Surf (Instrumental)

fairly dry damped guitar plucks out a little melody, supplemented with glissandoes and churning organ. Surf and geeky playfulness coexist in harmony in "The Man With No Ping." Pretty fun!

Surf (Instrumental)

A churchy organ haunts below the guitar's tasteful melody line. "Dogmatic" is moody and thoughtful, with a bit of surf coolness riding above the optimistic scene. A fine melody and song with an unusual sound.

Surf (Instrumental)

This is a brass reinvention of the Ventures' arrangement, with thunder thump kick in the left ear and dry twang in the right. While it doesn't fall far from the tree, it has it's own character and style. An inspired cover.

Surf (Instrumental)

Oddly cool percussion echoes across the landscape before the most bizarre transition straddles the line between ice and liquid flow. The guitar melody is excellent, and with all the otherworldly intrusions, "func_surf entity" is at once very cool and very difficult.

Surf (Instrumental)

Active panning presents effects and scenery in motion as "Rocket Science" slowly comes to life. The drums are great, and the uncomfortable eerie sounds provide a truly strange and magnetic soundscape. This is surf for prescription drugs and galloping cactus tours of coastal dunes. A very unusual construction.

Surf (Instrumental)

"Being And Nothingness" is a playful tropical thing with a nice little melody. Not exactly sad, but aquatically moody and of a carnival ethic. Quite nice!

Surf (Instrumental)

Hard edged grinding Mexican stomp! "Tijuana Mary Y Juana" is a powerful and infectious track, with great horns, grunting guitar, and a great rhythm. Dramatic, edgy, and loud.

Surf (Instrumental)

"The Aquanaut" rips right off with a dramatic opening, then proceeds to drive hard with great drums and a fine melody line. The rhythm guitar employs vibrato to add shimmer to the mix. Both guitars, the bass, and the drums are well played on this fine song. Adventurous and very surfy.

Surf (Instrumental)

The Halibuts' "Chummin'" is done quite differently than the flatfish boys' original. Thrashy rhythm guitar and a bumpier chunkier approach give it a more edgy sound.

Surf (Instrumental)

"Quisp" is an original Aquanauts song with a classic riff and whammy chords for extra surfability. Catchy and infectious, with a great reverb rhythm.

Surf (Instrumental)

Chunky and thickly whammy chorded, "Batman" rocks just like the heavy thunder captured all those years ago by Al and Richie Schmidt at RCA Hollywood. This is the Lee Hazelwood song the Astronauts recorded, not the Neil Hefty TV theme.