Friday, July 11, 2008

The Tarantulas - Monster Wave 100 Ft. High



Phil Dirt: This debut effort is very cool. Randy J - guitar, Ken Baugh (Ten Penny Heroes), and Chris Valentino - drums have come together with excellent chemistry and original sounds. Their primary basis is spaghetti western, but there's a lot of surf influence here as well. Solid throughout.

"Barney Rumble" ***
This is a tasty crunchy surf progressional track, with fine whammy and solid reverb. Vibrato lead work and low-E rumble, with glissandos and a Fall at the beach feel. Nice track. Western Surf Instrumental Stereo

"Bullrushes" ***
"Surf Beat " sorta crunch, mid tempo double picked moody leads, and vibrato chords swimming beneath. Chunky and satisfying. Western Surf Instrumental Stereo

"'78 Honda" ***
Chorded car song ethics, relentless drive, and very little melody. By the time they get past the long intro, they break into a tasty riff. It works well, like an early Surf Report tune. Western Surf Instrumental Stere

"Lonerider" ****

Excellent Spanish spaghetti western chords, shiny vibrato lead work, cowboy beat... a fine track indeed. It's infectious and rhythmic, shimmering and playful. Dig it! Western Surf Instrumental Stereo

Black Diamond" ****

Rhythmic and enticing, "Black Diamond" shimmers with vibrato and dribbling double picking. Gentle and rainy day pretty, but with flair and energy. Excellent track. Western Surf Instrumental Stereo

"Mojave Surfrider" ****
Desert surf punkabilly reverb smooth... those adjectives may sound like juxtaposed incongruities, but the describe the elements that are morphed and blended to create this song. While not very melodic, it is very engaging and charming, with power and crunch without relying on volume and speed.
Western Surf Instrumental Stereo

"Sun Valley Serenade" ****
An exercise in precise picking and intricate western imagery, with the kind of suave riffs that only bands from the Southwest seem to develop. Very enjoyable, and quite picturesque in the break. Western Surf Instrumental Stereo

"Dual Flying Kings" ****
Ultra twang, shimmering tone, a post Duane Eddy feel, and a sub Insect Surfer structure. Western surf with a sense of charm and style. Western Surf Instrumental Stereo

"Amazon-Legged Woman" ***
Real twang meets surf playfulness, while the chops display a sense of engrossed pluckery. The melody structure is not surf, but the warm tone sure is. Quite nice.
Western Surf Instrumental Stereo

"Ride To Tucumcari" ***
This reminds me somewhat of Death Valley, with that kind of charm and vibrato spaghetti cactus coolness as viewed from a Pullman. Western Surf Instrumental Stereo

"Tucumcari" ****
Great slow damped reverbed chords, dramatic smooth flow, shimmering vibrato, artful guitar lines, and a relaxed open air feel. Very nice track. Western Surf Instrumental Stereo


"A Fistful Of Dollars (Overture)" ****

Enio Morricone's spaghetti western theme, played out with all the pasta sauce available. Eerie and deluxe, this is simply endearing and smooth. Even the faster parts drip suave and rhythmic engagement. Excellent.

spiderwave

6 comments:

Brandonio! said...

Ten bucks says Zillagord leaves a comment here.This post seems right up his alley.It suits my taste as well.You as useual post some mighty fine treats.

Keep it up buddy!

Los Contratiempos said...

I love this spaghetti western flavoured surf sound…Good and clear guitar tones and an excellent drummer ! Thanks from Spain, pal!

zillagord said...

HAHAHAHA! Brandonio! Right you are my friend, this puppy is 'xactly what I dig! Who should send you the sawbuck?

This actually is quite good, too, and I would recommend it for anyone looking for clean spaghetti surf.

Boss, thanks so much. I had never heard of these guys, so I am grateful for the introduction.

Peace,
Zillagord

surf1962 said...

Hey Guys, you can buy this CD at cdbaby.com.
This isn't cool. I know that everybody downloads stuff, and I can understand if you downloaded something that is totally out of print or something where the artist is making millions of dollars. But I paid a lot of money out of my own pocket to record and make this disc with my band "The Tarantulas" and I don't want it on sharebee. Please take it off. If you can't afford to buy the CD from CDbaby, i'll send you the MP3's for free, i don't care, I just don't want it available on file sharing. I'm glad you appreciate the music, but please take it off of sharebee. You can leave the review, and like i said, I will give it to you for free if you can't afford it, seriously. Thanks, Randy J (guitarist for The Tarantulas)

Unknown said...

Guys! Ive been searching for this record and finally found it... the links are down... would you be so kind to upload it again?

Paolo said...

This is a fantastic CD. I bought my copy from CDbaby when i was first getting into surf music. I trawled through their 'surf rock' section and this band really stood out. I also agree with the post further up about the drumming. I think that's what caught my attention.
Congratulations to the Randy J and the gang on a fine record.
Loving the site, keep up the great work

Related Posts with Thumbnails