August 8, 2001
Well, here it is.
My first ever music review. And you know what? It's not a bad
CD to review at that. Pavlov's Woody is in fact just two guys, Doug
and Don Simpson. Hopefully, they'll find other guys so that they
can become a full fledged touring act, but this CD will have to do for
the time being.
The CD kicks off with
a surf cover of a Frank Zappa tune, "Lumpy Gravy." I've never heard
the original and I have no idea what it sounds like, but in the hands of
Pavlov's Woody it makes a damn good surf song. The majority of the
CD is a mix of covers and a few originals tossed in. While I generally
look down on new bands that do a lot of covers, Pavlov's Woody manages
to make each song their own. With the addition of a keyboard (an
authentic sounding one, no '80s sounding MIDIs or Muzak inspired string
sections here), each song manages to sound new while at the same time maintaining
a sixties ethic. You might think a CD of 23 surf songs, most of which
are cover, would get boring after awhile. But it doesn't. Diehard
surf fans will enjoy "Instrumentality" because they will hear new takes
on classic surf songs. Newcomers to the genre will be introduced
to some classic songs played by a talented pair of guys. I guess
if I had to give a one sentence review to be included with a press kit,
I'd say something like "Pavlov's Woody rocks! Young and old surf
fans alike will love this bands take on the classic surf style!"
Then I'd mention that I gave them 3 1/2 stars.
Oh yeah, not only can
the band play, they can write their own songs, too. They just need
to write more of them. Only 3 of the 23 songs are originals and they
fit right in with the rest of the songs. Why don't I end this, my
first review, by running down some highlights of the CD. Let's see,
I already mentioned "Lumpy Gravy." Another standout track is a cover
of Link Wray's "Switchblade." This track bears mentioning because
I hate the original so much, but it actually sounds cool to here Pavlov's
Woody play it. Another standout is "Pipeline," which I expected
to be a carbon copy of the original, but Pavlov's Woody do a pretty good
job with it. There's also the Pharos' classic, "Pintor." Here,
Pavlov's Woody abandon the surf style altogether and turn it into an acoustic
Flamenco. Cool.
All in all, a great
CD. I even like the cover art, which is weird because it doesn't
seem like something like.
Trader Rick
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