Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA  | Surf Report have been together for about 3 years. Their critically acclaimed first cassette album Bikini Island Experiment set the stage for this CD. Their orientation is strong rolling chords beneath a chunky lead melody. Their sound is unusual. I prefer Bikini Island Experiment to this CD, but this is still a worthy addition to the surf library. I think they need to get a producer who knows what the hell he's doing. In most cases,the great lead guitar work is buried in the mix, and the rhythm is too prominent. |
Picks: Surfonica, Tsunami Rex, Wrist Rocket, The Flash, CMB, Freakaholic II [Sex Crimes], Persuasion Stick, Green Horizons, Barnburner, Crowbar, The Trooper
Track by Track Review
Surf (Instrumental)
"Surfonica" is a spiffy surf instro from their first CD (second album), with a bunch of edgy fire, and a strong surf attack. This is among the best tracks from that album.
Tsunami Rex 
Surf (Instrumental)
The talking intro is entirely too long, of no interest, and detracts from the track. The title doesn't seem to fit the tune much, being neither a giant swell or very surfy. It's a lot like "Surfonica" with faux Dick Dale glissandoes added and a boring white boy blues break.
Wrist Rocket Surf (Instrumental)
Riffola Cosa Nostra. The ominous sound doesn't stick with you. The false start for the bass should also be cut off... it interferes with the start of the song.
The Flash Surf (Instrumental)
Short little penny whistle. Waste of bits-n-bytes.
Surf (Instrumental)
The false start guitar stairway progression is superfluous, and should have been edited out. The out of tune guitar doesn't help either. This is conceptually a great song, and would have rated 4 stars except for that. While it is mostly just a riff, it does have an infectious nature.
Freakaholic II [Sex Crimes] Surf (Instrumental)
Again like "Surfonica" in sound, this track features a fiery performance and ample grabbers, but is a bit too Dick Dale derivative. If the mix wasn't so bad with the lead almost lost and the rhythm way to prominent, this coulda been a 4 star track.
Surf (Instrumental)
Hot playing and big grabs for the first half, but then it lost me in the blues wankage.
Green Horizons Surf (Instrumental)
Chords and cowboy beat... just so-so.
Barnburner Surf (Instrumental)
What is this insipid moronic politically correct whiner intro that's also way too long doing at the start of this track. Totally turned me off to the rest of the CD. I had to come back later to listen to the rest. OK, that's off my chest. This track is mostly chunka chunka chordage.
Crowbar Surf (Instrumental)
Melodically pleasant with trite blues chops.
Surf (Instrumental)
Cool intro and a great infectious riff, but it never develops past what seems to be an intro to something else. Too bad. It's cool, but it just seems incomplete.