Posted on Sep 18 2012 08:44 PM
So, I've had this CD for quite a while. I waited to post a review since for a long time every time I listened to it, it seemed like I was hearing it for the first time. There's a lot of depth to this album, and it needed time to reveal itself fully. Bang! Mustang have recorded a simply remarkable debut album, rich in ideas and creativity, and drawing heavily from the deep well of the third wave of surf music.
Sven is the lead guitarist and primary songwriter here, and is somebody I've been corresponding over email since '08, and even had a chance to meet and hang out with at Surfer Joe in '09. I'm simply astounded by his playing and his songwriting here. He's blossomed into a truly top-notch surf musician, and one from whom I expect we'll be hearing a lot more. I know he took lessons with the amazing Alex Faide of Los Twang! Marvels, and they clearly did not go to waste - Sven's guitar playing is highly fluid, chops up the wazoo but always used for good rather than evil, and his songwriting is packed to the hilt with melody and unique arranging touches. It should be made clear that Sven is simply influenced by Alex rather than just slavishly copying him, and he establishes his own sound and approach on this CD. The band also features Los Twang! Marvels' long-time drummer Boris Israel AKA Bisfer and occasional Los Twang! Marvels bass player El Pato, so it's not surprising that there will be some similarities in the approach and sound on this CD, but it's most certainly not excessive in any way. (To me, Los Twang! Marvels have been one of the most remarkably creative surf bands of the past 10 years, so it's not a bad influence to have!)
The interesting thing about Bang! Mustang is that they are truly a modern surf band, while still being basically trad in their sound. They use all trad guitar, bass and drum tones as well as playing techniques, but the songwriting and arranging could only have been done by somebody that is heavily steeped in the surf music of the past 20 years, as I know Sven is. Besides LTM, I hear influences by the Penetrators, Slacktone (only a touch), and maybe even a bit of the Space Cossacks. However, in drawing on these influences they have definitely come up with a sound of their own, and it's really a damn good sound!
The band released an EP last year, and I've raved elsewhere on SG101 about it. For this CD they rerecorded four of the five songs on the EP (leaving the fantastic "El Dorado" only available on there). They managed to recreate the sheer brilliance of one of my favorite surf songs in years, the sublime "Journey to Calafuria," and actually improved on the already-great "Tormenta," which is now seriously rocking and heavy, all low-E double-picking with open-string pull-offs.
Of the 10 new songs on here, there are multiple gems. Probably my favorite is "A Gentle Breeze," which is much more rocking than the title would imply, but it has a certain elegance and melodic aggression that's just gorgeous and quite unique. The verse just seems to levitate, with multiple counterpoint lines under a simple but extremely effective melody. "Surf Buggy" is a true Euro-surf track, with an infectious major-key melody, and some beautiful use of echo, reverb and tremolo effects coupled with fantastic palm-muted parts. It's astonishingly creative. "Teahupoo Stomp" opens with more DD-like open-string-pull-off double picking, but soon veers into a Penetrators-sounding melody, and all sorts of twists and turns in the arrangement that contiue to surprise even after many hearings. Wild stuff! "Bolero" features a gorgeous, melancholy Mexican-sounding melody played on acoustic guitars (and showing off some impressive chops!), along with layers of reverbed electric and acoustic rhythm guitars underneath - it all works like a charm. "Six Waves Under" is a fast-paced trad track with great melodies one on top of each other, and more unexpected twists-and-turns - definitely a defining feature of Bang! Mustang's sound. And last but certainly not least is the opening track, "Punto Muerto", which is an extremely simple and short (38 seconds) bit of baritone guitar coupled with some background echo, tremolo, and wind effects, which perfectly captures Morricone's spirit. A very nice touch as the opening - and defining - statement for the album.
OK, I've gone on for way too long. In short - I love this album! It's just an incredible piece of work. If you haven't picked it up yet, do yourself a favor and do so immediately. I can't imagine anybody being disappointed by it. But please let the songs reveal themselves over multiple hearings - this is definitely an album that will grow with each repeat listen. In my experience, it's those albums that become our most cherished companions through the years.
Really well-done, Bang! Mustang! I look forward to hearing much more from you in the future.
—
Ivan
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Last edited: Sep 19, 2012 14:02:01