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I finally got a hold of this gem from the Bitch Boys and what a gem this is - 30
friggin' songs at 76+ minutes - that's like 2 1/2 good surf albums on one disc.
Not since the Krontjong Devils has a band successfully pulled off so many
obscure covers on one disc - plus its the Bitch Boys playing the songs (along
with the great production you would expect from a Bitch Boys CD), so you know
its going to be great. Alot of bands could learn these songs and record them,
but they would be hard-pressed to make them sound this good. Normally, I
wouldn't be too crazy about an "all covers" CD, but 90% of these are so obscure
- and the recording so fresh - that's its more or less new to me because of the
Bitch Boys signature sound. Even better is to go back and listen to some of the
originals (if you have them, or can find them) - that way you can fully
appreciate what this band has done with these songs. I also think the response
from their first album, "In Heat," helps as well - now people expect that the
playing and production will be of an extremely high standard & as a result will
buy this album and be thoroughly impressed as was I. This in turn gives added
life to these hard-to-find classics.
I really like the mix and the guitar tones on this as well - full on throaty
reverb boooch mixed with precise, clean guitar work - played and mixed perfectly
- this band is a prime example of why you need more than one guitar (at the very
least on a recording if you're a trio and you're not Slacktone), as if Satan's
Pilgrims, The Fathoms, The Penetrators, et al haven't already made that clear.
Its hard for me to pick out some songs that stick out as they are all good (and
there are 30 of the fuckers), but here are just a few that momentarily make me
stop what I'm doing to either pay closer attention, repeat the song, or look it
up on the liner notes to see what song it is and who did it originally: Ali
Baba - Twenty Thousand Leagues (easily one of my faves on the disc) -
Caterpillar Crawl - Shockwave - Twilight City - 4th Dimension - The Breeze and I
- Gotcha - those are just the ones that stick out, but really all the songs are
great. What a mammoth undertaking it must have been to record and mix 30 songs
and have the project come out like this - unbelievable.
1. If you're an up and coming surf guitar player wondering whether or not you
should get an outboard reverb tank - or just crank up the reverb on your amp - I
think this disc might help in the decision making process. (I'm just a drunk
drummer and don't know shit about guitars, but I know I've never heard reverb
like this come out of a guitar-plugged-straight-into-amp setup)
2. For up and coming bands trying to decide what covers (if any) to put on a CD,
I would listen to this disc for inspiration before spending a nickel to record
another version of ______ (insert overdone classic here). Plus if you're going
to spend the $80 or whatever to do it legally and obtain the license, why give
Dick Dale more money to feed his tigers?
tfj
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
wrote:
[ great review of Ridin' The First Wave]
Nice review Jim, I had a very similiar reaction. Although for whatever
reason "In Heat" didn't leave much of an impression on me, I was really
floored by this release. I think they did a great job of subtley
remaking the covers into their own style. But like you said, the covers
are so obscure, I am only going by the few ones that I know. A very good
album!
BN (can't get enough booochin')
