Phil Dirt - Reverb Central PO Box 7240, Santa Cruz, CA 95061-7240 USA

SATURNALIA The Tao Of Saturnalia ***

This is a 5 song cassette from Saturnalia. There are some nice moments here, some envelope edge pushing and some inventive rethinking. The recording is ambient, so the drums are hollow sounding. Picks: Silence?...the Savage Frowned, Reverberation Bomb, Blammo!, Across The Deserts of Salt and Sand, Sailor Uranus Label: Meatfish Records Meatfish 1 Cassette

SILENCE?...THE SAVAGE FROWNED ***

This tune carries off the surf ethic well, with a more stretched out format and chunky surf tones. It's mean and lean, and sports some very nice guitar work. Influenced slightly by "Secret Agent Man," it moves in a less pop vein than that does. Surf Instrumental Performance: Natural Production: Marginal Stereo Gotta Have It Factor: Great To Have

REVERBERATION BOMB ****

This tune is pretty mean. Not very melodic, but darn nasty. The lead line is near-melodic, a riff that pleases the ear. The guitar work is quite nice as well, especially in the break. Powerful tune that would benefit greatly from a really good recording. Surf Instrumental Performance: Natural Production: Marginal Stereo Gotta Have It Factor: Miserable Without It

BLAMMO! ***

More jam like than the earlier tracks, but it sports a mean double picked main melody line. Powerful and inventive. Surf Instrumental Performance: Natural Production: Marginal Stereo Gotta Have It Factor: Great To Have

ACROSS THE DESERTS OF SALT AND SAND ****

Shimmering guitar via vibrato, and a shiny melody of sad distances and limited hope. It is slow and moody, and quite compelling. The double picked break fires speedy licks off before dropping back into the main melody over a more edgie backup. Surf Instrumental Performance: Natural Production: Marginal Stereo Gotta Have It Factor: Miserable Without It

SAILOR URANUS ***

Funky dockside fun, moody and shimmering with excellent vibrato and richness of guitar tone. This is a temporary state of affairs, because the second verse doubles the pace and assaults the quiet. Too much high hat use, but otherwise it's a fine tune full of energy and power. Surf Instrumental Performance: Natural Production: Marginal Stereo Gotta Have It Factor: Great To Have

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