October 13, 2001
    Here it is, the Martians' fourth (I think) album, the one that has sparked controversy among die-hard surf enthusiasts.  Why exactly I'm not sure, as anyone who would be a fan of such veteran surf bands as the Trashmen or latter day surf bands like the Untamed Youth should love this.  In fact, Evan Foster has really matured since the self-titled Martians' album and the follow-up "13 Evil Tales," both of which were ok, but kind of annoyed me.  What "Planet Mace" did for the Untamed Youth, "Move!" will do for the Boss Martians.
    Part of the reason for the vast improvement on this album may possibly be the personnel change.  Scott Betts and Dan Israel have been replaced by Steve Esquerita Davis and Jason Reavis on bass and drums respectively.  The result is a much more "mature" sounding Boss Martians.  That is, about as mature as you can sound playing songs about cars, chicks, beer and surfing!  Yeah, don't worry, the Martians haven't "sold-out" as some might have thought.
    Getting now to the music, the Martians have never sounded better.  Gone are Even Foster's Jan & Dean (or whatever) style vocals.  Instead, we find a more rugged styled vocals on songs like "She's In, You're Gone" and "Move!" There is also an almost country-rockabilly singing style on songs like "Bad Ass '71 Dodge Super Bee" (a stand out gem of a vocal on the album, by the way) and "Mugs O' Plenty," a dynamite beer drinking song.  The world can always use another drinking song.  The instrumentals, of which there are many, are also greatly improved: "The Last Ride" is a great surf tune; "Trouble on 2 Wheels" is perhaps the instrumental anywhere to mix with surf with klezmer; "Intermission" is a solid bossa-nova tune; "Chihuahua del Diablo" is a great latin-surf number; "Pandilla en Motocicleta" is an awesome Davie-Allan-meets-James-Bond-meets-disco instrumental.
    So why 4 1/2 stars and not 5?  Well, one reason is, and I hate to say it, but Evan Foster seems to be heavily influenced by Deke Dickerson.  A lot of the tracks definitely have an Untamed youth feel to them. Not that that's a bad thing, though.  But the Martians definitely inject their OWN sound into every song they play, they don't COPY anyone.  There other thing that I didn't like about "Move!" is that this seems to be the shortest Boss Martians album ever, and it's the only one that I wish was longer.  Unlike "13 Evil Tales," which was full of long songs that seemed to go nowhere, "Move!" is full of songs that are short, sweet, and tight.  That's good, but there needs to be more of them!  But if surf and garage is your thing, this is the one to get.
Trader Rick