Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA Davie Allan and the Arrows - Antediluvian Fuzz
 | This two CD-R set is compiled from various vinyl releases for airplay use only. It is a remarkable testament to the inventor of the biker fuzz instro genre, and the man behind the Max Frost and the Troopers alias. Many wonderful and rare gems lurk in these tracks. Davie's band once included Paul Johnson on rhythm guitar, and is still a force to be reckoned with live. |
Picks: The Fountain, Skaterdater I, Missy And The Statue, Skaterdater II, Skate Out, Skaterdater Rock, Together I, Statue, Skate Board Safari, Skaterdater III, Together II, Skaterdater IV, Missy's Theme, The Chase, Rockin' Angel, Lonely Rider, The Unknown Rider, Wild Angels Ballad (Dirge), The Loser's Burial, The Dark Alley, Cycle Party, Wild Angels Chase, The Last Ride, Mario's Theme, Lulu's World, Peckinpaw's Theme, U. F. O., The Shape Of Things To Come, Grog's Hog, Action In The Street, Another Cycle In Detroit, King Fuzz, The Devil's Rumble, Blue's Trip, Tomahawk, Indian Giver, Space Hop, War Path, Beyond The Blue, Cody's Theme, Apache '65, Tee Pee, Blue Guitar, Diana's Theme, The Rebel (Without A Cause), Scratchy, Indian Giver, Commanche, Theme From Thunderball, William Tell 1967, Fuzz Theme, (Ghost) Riders In The Sky, Golden Shower, Oh That Smarts / The Chase Is On / Better Service, Cycle-Delic, The Loser's Burial, Ghost Story, Moondawg '65
Track by Track Review
Surf (Instrumental)
Slowdance romantic melody, shimmering reverbed guitar, and semi dramatic drum fills. Dry click second guitar (instead of damped reverbed), but otherwise a typical surf structure. The drum cadence is not surf. The track evokes images of moonlit beach scenes with a pair of lovers dancing.
Surf (Instrumental)
The first of four versions of this tune, this being pretty dry, with nice string bending, and great damped picking transitions. I find this to be one of Davie's prettiest tunes, and this version is very nice.
Surf (Instrumental)
Another slow romantic song. A pretty melody, gentle delivery, and smooth performance, all add up to a very nice track. Thematically, it uses a bit of Skaterdater as a closing bridge.
Surf (Instrumental)
None better than this. Wetter, about fifty percent faster, this is really cool. The guitar tones are more stinging, and overall effect is more power and more surfisms. The drums just keep on rolling!
Surf (Instrumental)
Mostly percussion that builds gradually from slight toms to major poundage, accented by equally escalating damped picking, and occasional chords. The drums owe much to Cozy Cole's "Topsy, Part 2." Great rhythmic track.
Surf (Instrumental)
Totally fuzzified version, about the same pace as the second version. This is Davie's initial crossing into maximum fuzz, and it's very cool. raspy, dirty, grodie, and very fun. The back track is the same as version 2.
Surf (Instrumental)
Very similar to Missy & the Statue, with calliope-like progressions here and there, with a more shimmering guitar and a flute lead. very pretty.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
This theme has been used in many ways by Davie over the years, here with bits of Skaterdater in the bridges, but later called Dark Alley, among other names, with dark and grodie fuzz. Here, the guitar is relatively clean, and the effect is quite nice. Nice string bending!
Surf (Instrumental)
Lightly fuzzed (buzzed) guitar, mostly issuing a progression that hints of melodic genius. Davie has always had the ability to create a simple short melody line that immediately creeps into your soul. Great song.
Surf (Instrumental)
Fourth version (despite being called Skaterdater III), slow, sinewy, pretty. This really shows the flexibility of Davie's writing and playing.
Surf (Instrumental)
Another version, this more MOR like than the last. Pretty flute driven, with low-E guitar bridges. Nice track.
Surf (Instrumental)
Version 5 (IV...), fast like the second one, more shiny guitar sound, and more surfy damped note sounds. As before, hard to live without.
Surf (Instrumental)
Missy again, with flute leading, and super gentle delivery. Nice surf guitar playing the bridge.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
Echoed drums and bass guitar walking down the road with a bit of guitar. Mostly a rhythmic track, designed to support a scene. It's very drum oriented, and interesting to a point, but not for long.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
With a fairgrounds backtrack, and a melodic semi-clean guitar lead, this track is interesting and fun. The melody is simple, and the bridge is inspired, with great humor in it's notes. Major drum orientation, and an easy feel.
Surf (Instrumental)
A Mexican afternoon melody, a gentle guitar, and spooky airy keys make for an interesting bit of imagery. It's slow and fluffy.
Surf (Instrumental)
This is one of the great lost surf tracks, melodic, unusually produced, and really good listening. Davie's use of the whammy bar is precise and perfectly executed, delivering an extra dimension of sadness. Wonderful.
Wild Angels Ballad (Dirge) Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
Toms ominously pounded provide a dark underpinning for this very slow version of a melody Davie has used many times under many names, but mostly called "Wild Angels." Cool and brooding, with a vibrato lead guitar.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
An infectious melody invades your consciousness, even though it has a hokey nature to it. It is fun, and sorta friendly. A mid tempo fuzz precursor. "The Loser's Burial" sports an easy gate and soulful groove that gives it a very nice edge. Cool.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
Truly dark and ominous, danger in the back alley biker fuzz, with some pretty spacy effects. Pure evil! It's also been known as "Outer Surf." Ugly fuzzy bass under Davie's super smooth fuzz lead guitar. Way cool and grodie, with occasional monster growls. Watch out!
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
"Wipe Out" influenced drums, a party ethic and progression, and mostly filler. Not much melody, but lots of borrowed bits, like a combination of "Wipe Out" and "Bongo Rock" with screaming party goers. Still, it's a very fun track!
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
Another take on the title track, with a more happy go lucky calliope kind of approach. Fun and silly too.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
Super Fuzz "Blue's Theme" intro repeated over echoed tom toms... definitely scene piece, short and dark.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
Davie's super fuzz comes alive here, with more square wave than you know what to do with. It's melodic, evil, and edgy. Great fuzz and intense string choking!!!
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
An unusual combination of a country melody played with extreme fuzz with harmonica. It is very intense, and the whammy is wild. A great and grinding track.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
A light weight movie theme, melodic and countrified. A subdued fuzz guitar under a basic country backtrack and keyboards makes for an unusual sounding track.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
"U. F. O." is dark and evil with mucho fuzz and evil growls. The melody is very serviceable, having seen multiple reinterpretations by Davie under titles such as "Theme From The Unknown" and "Dark Alley."
The Shape Of Things To Come Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
Since Max Frost & the Troopers is a pseudonym for Davie Allan & the Arrows, it's quite alright for Davie and company to instrumentalize this Billboard hit tune. Of course, it is fuzzy and works just fine.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
Cool funky drums and bass, major fuzz guitar playing in tandem with the bass, and some noodling over the top, make for an ominous track.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
"Action In The Street" sports super fuzz and long sustain, intense siren backtrack, large soundscape, evil doings in danger land. Great drums! Weirdly scary.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
A motorcycle engine throttles up, then in slams Davie Allan's big fuzz monster guitar, delivering a melodic grindy tune. It's heavy and yet sports a light melody line for a cool contradiction.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
Davie's namesake song, also known as "Mario's Theme." This is a very fuzzy rendition, with grit and grandly ugly guitar tone. The string bending and guitar harmonies are demented and delightful.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
Dark, evil long fuzz notes ominously drag you into a dark place where your life is in danger. A simple melody, more a jam progression over heavy toms, and an intense psychedelic sound. Very cool.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
A little like the Larry Williams' "Slow Down," this track is sporty and very fuzzy, with a simple progression melody, and a choppy transition, plus a wah-wah break that's right out of 1967.
Surf (Instrumental)
A slowish echoed variation on the "Blues Theme" idea, but reverby and unusually light. Another melody that has served Davie well over the years, this time in an unusual arrangement that's pretty surfy. It's a nice touch.
Surf (Instrumental)
This is a melodic and fun tune, with a decidedly pop feeling. With it's ker-plunk reverbed fuzz, it reeks of pop joy. Wonderful. What's funny about this track is that it was originally the backtrack for a vocal, and you can still hear the vocals in the background if you listen on headphones.
Surf (Instrumental)
Screaming guitar assault, drums rampaging, bass thundering, dirty guitar tones, and big chords. A fine ugly Hogg rider's anthem. Very powerful.
Surf (Instrumental)
This was Davie's first single. It is an Indian styled surf tune of unusual brilliance. It has a great melody, and a great sound. A totally infectious single! The first of four versions of this tune, this being pretty dry, with nice string bending, and great damped picking transitions. I find this to be one of Davie's prettiest tunes, and this version is very nice.
Surf (Instrumental)
"Beyond The Blue" is slow, shiny, surfy, and really pretty. Davie isn't just a fuzz monster. This melodic and flowing track is one of the great surf obscuros. This was the B-side to "War Path" on Cude.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
Motorcycle engines pass by, and then in comes Davie's twin fuzz monster sound delivering a lumbering melody over a military backtrack. Great intense choking action! Wow! Davie also uses a Leslie effect on his guitar in the break.
Surf (Instrumental)
This is an odd rendering of the Jerry Lordan tune made famous in the us by Jorgen Ingmann. It's sped up, and it has a whole new feeling to it. Davie's interpretation is unusual, and it works. Not too fuzzy.
Surf (Instrumental)
A brilliant little bit of a melody with a calliope guitar sound over a damped surfy bed. Very interesting, and unusual too.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
It's "Peckinpaw's Theme" played slowly and surfily with lush Ferrante and Teischer styled piano overdubbed. The piano is too much - so schmaltzy.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
A snappy fifties backtrack, plucky and light, under Davie's shimmering lead line. This song is also called "Loser's Burial." This is a much more interesting version.
The Rebel (Without A Cause) Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
Movie magic, with a sound lying somewhere between surf and biker fuzz. The melody is flowing and dramatic. Attractive in a story telling kinda way, with just a touch of mystery from the string bending. A very nice track.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
And you though Travis Wammack did the definitive version of his Billboard hit fuzz instro - not! Davie gives it more edge and power, and less of that Memphis studio soul. Cool!
Surf (Instrumental)
This is a melodic and fun tune, with a decidedly pop feeling. With it's ker-plunk reverbed fuzz, it reeks of pop joy. Wonderful. What's funny about this track is that it was originally the backtrack for a vocal, and you can still hear the vocals in the background if you listen on headphones.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
This Indian theme number is quirky, stereotypical, and very infectious. Brilliantly written and delivered.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
The film theme, fuzzed up with reverb, and a big delivery.
Surf (Instrumental)
It's been surfed up, why not fuzz it up. The damped playing is really cool with the fuzz turned on. It's quirky, infectious, and rhythmic. very cool track.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
Like the title implies, the main idea here is FUZZ, and a bit of melody, like a follow up to "Blue Theme." Cool, and intense!
(Ghost) Riders In The Sky Cowboy Surf (Instrumental)
Low-E guitar, a cowboy backtrack, cow slingers shouting at them dogies, and a bunch of country feel. A nice version, relatively standard arrangement, which is pretty unusual for Davie. Simply cool!
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
Opening with a sample from a biker flick, this extra fuzzy version of the surfy tune that evolved into "Invasion Of The Body Surfers" is really fine. A great energetic double picked performance. Brilliant!
Oh That Smarts / The Chase Is On / Better Service Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
The opener is a really dumb sample from a bad biker flick, all about bikers mean-streaking a sissy. The track is an updated version of "The Chase." It's dark and evil and fuzzier than ever.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
This is simply the most amazing psych instro ever recorded, with the first-time recording of Davie screaming into the guitar pickups. "Cycle-Delic" is so strong that the break alone was the basis for "Missing Link" later in th eighties. This track screams out with twisted visionary noise, creating chills on your spine. Utterly fantastic!
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
An infectious melody invades your consciousness, even though it has a hokey nature to it. It is fun, and sorta friendly. A mid tempo fuzz precursor. "The Loser's Burial" sports an easy gate and soulful groove that gives it a very nice edge. Cool.
Biker Fuzz (Instrumental)
I don't know if this is actually Davie, but it sure sounds like his fuzzista deluxe, dark, twisted, major distortion, and very psycho jam. What a trip.
Surf (Instrumental)
Davie's complete reconstruction of the Gamblers' studio gem. "Moondawg '65" is chunky and laden with that classic Davie Allan sound. Great drums and rhythm.