Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA
The A-Bones - I Was A Teenage Mummydotdotdot
artworkAmong the trashy rock'n'roll gems on this disc is the ultra cool instro "Kashmiriam." It's worth the price of admission alone. and there are other instros too, most of which define low brow trash with a grin.
Picks: Firewater, Bandstand Rocket, Kashmiriam, Sinner's Theme

Track by Track Review


Firewater dotdotdot
Surf Rock (Instrumental)

"Firewater" is a beefy riff rocker with calls of "firewater' here and there accompanied by Indian hollers. It's a cover of The Premieres' tune from 1959. It's very respectful, faithfully retaining all the essential elements of the original's arrangement. Quite well done.

Mark Of The Squealer dotdotdot
Surf Rock (Instrumental)

"Mark Of The Squealer" is slow and sleazy and dissonant, with a serious outta tune feeling and back alley danger. Ugly on purpose.

The Fez Man Walks dotdot
Surf Rock (Instrumental)

A little faster than lumbering, but "The Fez Man Walks" is all chord groove and mournful sax notes. This is all late night R&B jam.

Bandstand Rocket dotdotdot
Surf Rock (Instrumental)

Dark fuzzed out bass and honkin' rawkin' sax. "Bandstand Rocket" is a flailing rocker in a fifties mold, with unmelodic frantic double picked guitar that employs occasional glissandos. High energy with flare.

Kashmiriam dotdotdotdotdot
Surfin' The Casbah (Instrumental)

Ha! The title is the BEST! There's no similarity to Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" as it might imply. Rather, drummer Miriam Lina is the focus of the track, much like Sandy Nelson's classic records. The fine surfy guitar work performs intense and dramatic flair enhanced punctuation for this rhythmically driven tribal monster. This, middle astern, mysterious, and very dangerous.

Lug Nuts dotdotdot
Surf Rock (Instrumental)

Murky surf in a frat rockin' primitive vein. The band members are not in sync, seeming to be playing without listening to each other, adding to the frantic primitive energy here.

Sinner's Theme dotdotdot
Surf Rock (Instrumental)

"Sinner's Theme" is a rhythmic grinder with raw sax and and a grode edge. Part surf, part frat, all primitive rock'n'roll.

Wendy's Theme dotdot
Surf Rock (Instrumental)

"Wendy's Theme" slowly murks out a desperate lumbering progression. Dark, brooding, in cheesy sound.