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| Phil Dirt - Reverb Central
1. "North Shore Rumble"
Dribbling surf and whammy, crunch and charm, and a restrained menacing
quality as well. The up-down glissandoes are just too cool! Excellent! 2. "Ride The Crest" A warm splashy melody riff runs above a happy go lucky damped rhythm. "Ride
The Crest" bounces and prances with an undulating rhythm that's very
infectious. A very upbeat track. 3. "Hot Doggin'" This is a solid and more or less traditional arrangement of the Astronauts'
"Hot Doggin'," but softer and more gentle. The tune is flexible
enough and melodic enough to support the transition, and the effect is
excellent. 4. "Waves Of Change" A slow moving vibrato quivered song with a coastal sunset sound. Liquid
melody lines and a soft semi-lush sound create an almost vacation vision. Quite
pretty. 5. "Pray For Surf" With a damped rhythm on the left and dry chords on the right in support of
the lead, "Pray For Surf" is reminiscent of the Astronauts
arrangement wise, but sports a much softer sound. Spunky and smooth, and evoking
of coastal surfaris in search of the perfect summer surf. 6. "No Surf" "No Surf" is a soft and enjoyable surf track with picturesque
coastal warmth and an attractive melody line. 7. "Journey To The Stars"
The Ventures' drum-driven "Journey To The Stars" is
pretty straightforward, yet despite being a not-to-evolved cover, it has a very
enjoyable sound and warmth about it. Excellent. 8. "Storm Surf" This mid tempo number oozes the warmth and a summer shore break. The melody
progression is Dire Straits inspired in sound and structure, and reminds
me that I always wondered why they never did a surf album. Quite a nice song! 9. "Baja" This is a rhythmic and plucky rendition of the Lee Hazelwood most
familiar surf instro. It's even more damped and suave than Half Tribe's
version, with warm tone and excellent damped rhythms. Infectious and very cool. 10. "Diamond Head" With an almost eleki nod to the Ventures, the Breakaways
deliver "Diamond Head" with Nokie-isms in tact, and with
poise and grace not found in other versions. Very cool. 11. "Island Of The Sea"
Soft island chords and acoustic guitar, wistful and almost distant lead
guitar, and a very well suited rhythm section combine with a pretty Endless
Summer soundtrack-styled melody to produce a very pretty summer scene in
your imagination. 12. "Out Of Limits" A warmly fluid performance of Mike Gordon's classic studio surf track.
It is much more sincere than the original, and the modern bridge is very cool. 13. "Shark Breath" Big teeth coming through the brine to make your acquaintance. Very pretty,
vibrato shimmered, whammy liquefied, and damped rhythm menaced. "Shark
Breath" is a very attractive song. 14. "Longboard Lesson"
A bit of wah wah makes the curl seem unbalanced, perhaps to imply a
beginner's unsteadiness on the board. "Longboard Lesson" is a
semi-lazy day adventure close to shore. Some great licks, and some very pleasant
passages. 15. "Penetration" The Pyramids' often covered "Penetration" is nicely
done, with solid rhythm and subdued Ventures added chords. 16. "Apache" Softer than the Sonny James vocal, more fluid than the Jorgen
Ingmann version, and warmer than most other covers. This soft treatment
shows the power of the writing, and the excellent sense of arranging that the
Breakaways apply to their material. Very pleasing. 17. "The Curl's Revenge"
A bit of beatnik cool in the bass line, a touch of "Tequila"
rhythm, and a simple and affective guitar riff, with a very clean sound. "The
Curl's Revenge" is a pretty surf instro with a bit of a hook. 18. "The Crusher" A quirky rhythm that's ska-inspired without being ska, and a warm summer
melody line gives "The Crusher" a Caribbean sound, while retaining
its surf center. Very cool. No, it's not the Nova's wrestling vocal, not
the Atlantic's screamer. 19. "Percussionator" Drums are center stage in the tradition of Adrian and the Sunsets, but
with more guitar work. the tribal drum break is very Cozy Cole inspired,
and a joy to hear. Great! 20. "Surfin' Sam" "Surfin' Sam" is a modern instro aurally reminiscent of the
Malibooz' "Tower 9," and with similar power and attack. An
excellent song with an aggressive surf edge. |
The
Breakaways Time Surfin' 
