Shoutbox

sysmalakian: Birthday month starts now!
362 days ago

diceophonic: Vampiro Classics 2024 reissue
343 days ago

SabedLeepski: Sunburn Surf Fest for some scorching hot surf music: https://sunb...
300 days ago

skeeter: I know a Polish sound guy.
228 days ago

skeeter: I know a Czech one too!
228 days ago

PatGall: Surfybear metal settings
147 days ago

Pyronauts: Happy Tanks-Kicking!
126 days ago

midwestsurfguy: Merry Christmas!
94 days ago

sysmalakian: HAPPY NEW YEAR!
88 days ago

SabedLeepski: Surfin‘ Europe, for surf (related) gigs and events in Europe Big Razz https://sunb...
49 days ago

Please login or register to shout.

Current Polls

No polls at this time. Check out our past polls.

Current Contests

No contests at this time. Check out our past contests.

Donations

Help us meet our monthly goal:

100%

100%

Donate Now

Cake March Birthdays Cake
SG101 Banner

SurfGuitar101 Forums » Music Reviews »

Permalink The Atomic Mosquitos "Meltdown"

New Topic
Goto Page: 1 2 Next

As though '08 didn't give us enough remarkable surf CDs, the Atomic Mosquitos were able to squeeze one more in! "Meltdown" came out just before Christmas, and what a gift to all of us surf music fans! This is their third release, and as good the first two were, this one is even better. I love this CD. What a talented band.

The Atomic Mosquitos are a four-piece with a classic line-up - and an occasional addition of a theremin. They had a shake-up in the band since the previous CD, replacing Guitar George with Surfer Joe. Very Happy George wrote some beautiful songs on the band's first two CDs, but SG101's own Paul Carson (lead/rhythm) and Sean Rush (bass) stepped up their songwriting output most ably (with some help by their drummer Craig Stang, who wrote two songs by himself - really, drummers writing songs?? What is is this world coming to? Laughing ). There is only one cover: "Sabre Dance." Honestly, I love the Jokers/Los Twang! Marvels version of this classical piece so much that I didn't really want to like the Mosquitos' version (which is a fair amount different from the Jokers' song, more aggressive and simply surfier), but, damn, they won me over. It's four minutes of high-energy insanity - including rubber ducky noises. I've got no idea what the hell that's all about, but it makes me smile each time.

The original songs are pretty much all winners. I don't dislike even one of them, and several of them are simply astounding, with four in particular coming to mind: Paul's "Ahhh, the Atmosphere!" is a gorgeous, highly melodic, slightly melancholy and mysterious mid-tempo space-surf tune - it gives me the shivers each time I hear it; Sean's "Hank Scorpio" is a high-intensity pounder with a great arrangement, fantastic two-guitar interplay and a nice addition of a melodic bridge in exactly the right spots; Sean and ex-member Guitar George's collaboration "The Liquidators" has some of that same hard-hitting spirit while remaining melodic throughout, and featuring some well-placed breaks and nice arrangement touches; finally, Paul's title track is a dramatic, dark piece of trad surf that succeeds at all levels. These four are my favorites, but all the songs are very cool and all have something special. Paul's songs tend to be more traditional, while Sean's have a bit of an eighties' indie spirit to them (as does his highly melodic bass playing), with more complex and extended melodies and inevitably excellent bridge sections. But the lines get blurry here and there with both songwriters having songs that sound more like the other guy's. Their writing is always engaging, dynamic and melodic, with great feel for arranging. The two songs by Craig are a blast, too, despite being much simpler: "Dark Side of the Chimps" (I have no idea what that title - or really most of the other titles on this CD! - is about, but it's funny!) is a slow drum pounder with a couple of different sections and heavy theremin, and "Mosquito Fight Song" is a plain-but-pretty major-key/mid-tempo song that closes the album by departing from its mostly mysterious and dark vibe.

The musicianship is excellent throughout, and the recording (which they did on their own) clean, full and authentic, and a definite step forward from the previous CD (which certainly wasn't bad). The guitar sounds are gorgeous, too: Paul sporting an immaculately-reverbed, FAT Jaguar tone (the amp must have been cranking while recording!), while Joe has an edgier Strat tone that is still quite wet. It's a great combination, especially when they trade-off parts within songs. Both guitarists play lead on the album, too, and they are both fantastic, playing everything with ease, lot of style and lot of expresiveness and impeccable tones. Their rhythm playing is spot-on, too, sometimes strumming, sometimes chunking along, always perfect for the song. Sean is a phenomenal bass player with a highly melodic sound and a bright tone that is sometimes a bit more '80s than trad but that adds a LOT to the songs. And Craig is a 100% trad-style drummer that's all about playing for the song, which he does extremely well, rather than showing off. Finally, they're joined on something like four songs by Stephen Blickenstaff on theremin, one of the few people that actually plays this difficult instrument! His parts on "Ahhh, the Atmosphere" and "Hank Scorpio" are melodic and complementary to the lead guitar, and add a lot to the songs. Let's not forget Stephen's other talent - incredible artwork! Stephen is one of the foremost 'monster' artists out there today and the front cover art does not disappoint - it is amazing.

Really, what an excellent band! It was a true pleasure to be able to play three shows with these guys in May of '08. They're among the best surf bands out there right now. I very much hope they support this CD with a lot of live shows, and that the word gets out about how great they really are. For any lover of trad, heavily-reverbed surf music, it doesn't get much better than this. I can't imagine any SG101-ers not loving this album! Get it now!

Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube

Thanks for a very informative review Ivan.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

OK You convinced me, I bought one. (like I wasn't going to anyway) Wink

Seriously though, thanks Ivan for such a well rounded review. The AM's should be very proud of themselves. Ivan your enthusiasm for the genre shines brightly, it's a privilege just to bask in it's glow.

Danny Snyder

Latest project - Now That's What I Call SURF
_
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

I'm back playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Thanks for the review.
after hearing it this weekend,
and reading that I gotta get one now.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Thanks, Synchro, Jeff, and especially Danny, for such kind words. I try to do what I can to support surf bands that release great CDs. God knows that the odds are stacked against us in this small, niche genre, so every little bit helps.

Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube

Gee whiz, thanks Ivan. Embarassed

I'm glad you like it.
We're all pretty happy with it too. Production and energy wise, we feel like we captured more what we really sound like live with this one, than we did with the previous CDs.

I very much hope they support this CD with a lot of live shows,...

Workin' on it! Just put two new shows on the calendar!

-Paul (skeeter)

Paul
Atomic Mosquitos
Bug music for bug people is here!
Killers from Space

Paul, why not take some time and outline your experience in the studio. How much work you put into setting up mikes, live vs overdubbing, changes made on the fly - that sort of thing. If you have the time I'm sure it'd be interesting.

Danny Snyder

Latest project - Now That's What I Call SURF
_
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

I'm back playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

DannySnyder
Paul, why not take some time and outline your experience in the studio. How much work you put into setting up mikes, live vs overdubbing, changes made on the fly - that sort of thing. If you have the time I'm sure it'd be interesting.

I'd have to direct that to Sean (Nile West), he's our engineer, I just pretty much show up and plug-in.

Paul
Atomic Mosquitos
Bug music for bug people is here!
Killers from Space

skeeter

I very much hope they support this CD with a lot of live shows,...

Workin' on it! Just put two new shows on the calendar!

-Paul (skeeter)

I'm just sad that there isn't a west coast show added
Crying

Jeff(bigtikidude)

skeeter

DannySnyder
Paul, why not take some time and outline your experience in the studio. How much work you put into setting up mikes, live vs overdubbing, changes made on the fly - that sort of thing. If you have the time I'm sure it'd be interesting.

I'd have to direct that to Sean (Nile West), he's our engineer, I just pretty much show up and plug-in.

Thanks Paul, please do. Tell him to be as detailed as he's comfortable with. We're all geeks here Wink

Danny Snyder

Latest project - Now That's What I Call SURF
_
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

I'm back playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Ivan, as always thanks for posting such great reviews. I'm not much more eloquent than "this kicks ass". I'm enjoying this CD very much!

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me

"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea

Brian
I'm not much more eloquent than "this kicks ass".

and yet.....in some cases.......that's all that needs to be said. Thumbs Up

Looking forward to getting this one. I have a 15 hour drive to Orlando coming soon......need to add some more discs to the mix. Thanks Ivan.

Will

"You're done, once you're a surfer you're done. You're in. It's like the mob or something. You're not getting out." - Kelly Slater

The Luau Cinders

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Maryland show is the day I leave town!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Evil Evil Sad Suicide

Will

"You're done, once you're a surfer you're done. You're in. It's like the mob or something. You're not getting out." - Kelly Slater

The Luau Cinders

DannySnyder
Paul, why not take some time and outline your experience in the studio. How much work you put into setting up mikes, live vs overdubbing, changes made on the fly - that sort of thing. If you have the time I'm sure it'd be interesting.

Hey Danny, I guess the only way to explain how I record is to first say we're poor, i.e. we do it ourselves with the least amount of gear possible. We live far from one another and have a hard time getting together with any frequency, so we've recorded whenever we could find time throughout the last two years.

I have a 16 track Yamaha aw1628, essentially an all-in-one studio, and use audix mics for the drums and guitars with a few sm57's thrown in for grins. It takes about 40 mins to set up the drums (7 mics for 7 tracks) and we record them first. I do this because we don't have any real studio space and this seems the best way to get isolation for the drums. I set up a separate mixer for all the guitars, which I pipe through a headphone amp so everyone one can hear each other like in a normal studio setting. We get a mix that Craig (drummer) likes and then we'll bang out 4 or 5 songs recording just the drums but with the energy of playing live, since we're all playing in the same room together.

Then the fun begins for me! I lay down my bass lines using a SansAmp direct box. It's the only one I've ever liked the sound of -- in fact, I recorded the bass parts from my Ampeg amp on the first two CD's because I didn't like the standard direct-in sound I was getting until I found this box. Then I try and track down the two guitarists and Theremin guy to do the same, which involves driving all over the place with my fairly portable Yamaha, one audix mic and stand and the same headphone amp set up. The guys are pretty good about knocking out their parts and when I get it all together, I mix it down and email it to the guys for the usual "turn my guitar/drum/Theremin up please!" response. Wink

We do this process 3 times and we got a CD! I'm not much of a gear freak, and don't know a whole lot about recording other than what I've taught myself, but I think if you keep it simple and just play with energy like you would at a gig, you'll always get a good sound. If there's something else you'd like to know more specific than this, let me know and I'll do the best I can to answer. But mostly, thanks for enjoying our tunes -- it makes all the driving around worth it!

Oh, and one last step is I take all the final mixes of the songs to a "real" studio to do the mastering.

Sean

Wow Ivan, thanks for your time and thoughtfulness in writing your review. That's one free beer you just got yourself next time we meet! Confused

Sean

Like I was saying in the other thread, other Atomic Mosquitos albums really didn't do anything for me v Sad v. Regardless I put the sticker on my gameboy. As a lone sticker awkardly wrapped around the top of it, black and white against the gray gameboy, it looks a little awkward.

This album is a completely different beast though. Those guitar melodies really know where they're going without rehashing the riffs we've all come to know. The theremin is a fun touch too. It's only been one listen so far, but I think this is my second favorite surf album of 2008. And as anybody who's been following new releases knows, that's no small honor. Liking that gameboy sticker a little more now.

Storm Surge of Reverb: Surf & Instro Radio

I just got mine, but haven't been able to listen yet - still at work. Drool

Danny Snyder

Latest project - Now That's What I Call SURF
_
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

I'm back playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Still waiting for mine from CDBaby, pretty stoked.

Mike
http://www.youtube.com/morphballio

I have to say again how much I am enjoying this CD. This is killer aggressive surf music. The Atomic Mosquitos really topped themselves here. I LOVE IT. The sense of humor in the song titles and the sound effects also adds a nice touch. The theremin is damn cool also. Great job guys! 2008 was indeed a very good year of releases.

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me

"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea

Brian
I have to say again how much I am enjoying this CD. This is killer aggressive surf music. The Atomic Mosquitos really topped themselves here. I LOVE IT. The sense of humor in the song titles and the sound effects also adds a nice touch. The theremin is damn cool also. Great job guys! 2008 was indeed a very good year of releases.

Sure, it'll be funny until someone comes down with Malaria, then who will be laughing? Smile

Seriously, this is great stuff. I've heard some Surf that was pretty much "me too" music but this is pretty cool and original.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Goto Page: 1 2 Next
Top