Speedball Jr. – For The Broad Minded *****
Speedball Jr. play with unending intensity and volume. They are louder and harsher than Dick Dale these days. This is not your father’s surf. For The Broad Minded is a complete energy drain. You may not be able to take it all the way through in one sitting. Aggressive, intense, and way over the top! the final track on the disc is a Christmas vocal called “Rudolph’s Secret.”
U69 *** Dark and heavy, “U69” verges on ugly, while being compelling. Very rock-toned and surf based, it suggests the nineties-onward side of Dick Dale’s career in its aggression and flying glissandos. Quite powerful.
Inferno **** “Inferno” portrays dark skies ready to destroy you, but you just have to get that one last shortboard shredder in. Very powerful and aggressive.
Orient Express **** Once more, there’s no let up in tension or anguish as Speedball Jr. hints slightly at Vic Goddard’s “Don’t Split It,” easily his most intense work, where he similarly borrows slightly from “Born To Be Wild” in the break, and buries keys that just hint at their presence. Superbly aggressive and compelling.
Laguna Beach **** Treble Spankers’ rockin’ “Laguna Beach” is made very angular and shred-worthy, as if Dick Dale had written it. The muted lines and the heavy aggression, along with the ambulance references, make this a tuff track to follow.
Scalped **** Dick Dale’s “Scalped” completes the nod to the King. Almost bigger than his, this track is a real power romp. Raw and intense.
What A Way To Run A Railroad ***** The intensity of “What A Way To Run A Railroad” is unmistakable and remarkably nerve wracking. There’s a very high energy bridge that is lower power than the song, leaving you with a false sense of calm by contrast. In your mug and all consuming. It’s hard to imagine, but this is bigger than Huevos Rancheros’ original.
Suddenly Billy ***** Whammy dips and dark assaults on your sanity aggressively charge through the monitors. Not one ounce of rest, and lots of demanding double picked shredding. Super-fast glissandos and hard charging chords complete the image. Yikes!
El Camino **** Even with a title like “El Camino” that is generally associated with more “fun” surf, Speedball Jr. rocks like this is their last song. With all knobs turned to eleven, this powers along without restraint. Great drums!
Caramba! **** If the title is what you exclaim upon enduring the energy assault here, then it’s a perfect title. It’s not the least bit Spanish, but it sure powers its way through the night!
Pipeline **** This is a loud and very chunky monsterization of Brian Carmen and Bob Spickard’s classic. If Johnny Thunders had understood surf, he probably would have done this instead of how he mangled “Pipeline.” Way cool!
Le Chat Noir ***** This uncharacteristically calm and soothing track comes none too soon. I’m worn out by the intensity, and “Le Chat Noir” is a welcome respite. haunting and dark and moody, and even, dare I say it with Speedball Jr., gentle! Really cool!
Phil Dirt – Reverb Central, PO Box 7240, Santa Cruz, CA 95061-7240 USA
Zijn vader komt oorspronkelijk uit Libanon en zijn moeder uit Polen. Uitgerekend hij wordt de grondlegger van surfmuziek. We hebben het uiteraard over Dick Dale (geboren: Richard Anthony Monsour). Dit jaar wordt hij 70 en begin jaren ’60 maakte hij de surfmuziek zeer populair. Daarna werd het een hele tijd stil. Pas tegen het eind van de jaren ’80 begon surfmuziek weer enigszins populair te worden in undergroundkringen. De muziek werd in 1994 in grotere kring populair dankzij Pulp Fiction. Sindsdien zijn er talloze surfbandjes opgestaan, maar over de kwaliteit kan in veel gevallen niet naar huis worden geschreven.
Het ‘probleem’ van surfmuziek is dat het een paar nummers leuk is en weet te boeien, maar dat het genre een erg beperkte reikwijdte heeft. De kunst om een surfalbum te maken dat van het begin tot het eind de aandacht van de luisteraar vasthoudt wordt door weinig groepen verstaan. Het Belgische Speedball Jr is echter zo’n band die de kunst wel verstaat. For The Broad Minded is een zeer gevarieerd surfalbum gemaakt door muzikanten die exact weten wat ze willen. Een plaat om heerlijk op te kunnen feesten of om gewoon heerlijk alleen op te kunnen drinken zonder depressief te raken.
www.planettrash.nl (Woensdag 17 januari 2007)
Three years ago, Speedbal Jr recorded Whiplash, their first full album! Now early 2007 they are back with a new album, some personnel changes & of course with a lot of new songs. For the broad minded, the new album by Speedbal Jr is exactly what the title says! Musically the band has evolved over the years. Surely some influences came and went with new personnel and adding an organ to their already rich and full sound did made some difference as well! But one can’t deny their professionalism and the well-produced tunes. When listening to their new album you know there is more to Speedball Jr. then a fancy chick doing some dancing in her undies.
Seven self-penned tunes and five covers fill this high speed, nitrogen-injected album to burst out your speakers with each spin! The surf sound from a couple of years ago is gone more or less and is taken over by a more matured instro-sound. Thinking of Fifty Foot Combo might be not that cool for a band who is working on their own sound, but somehow I can’t deny that For The Broad Minded is picking up where FFC left us some time ago. Despite the fact that they outgrew the original surf sound, the band take on coves like Pipeline by the Chantays or Scalped by Dick Dale. On the other hand For The Broad Minded is not that different at all. Tunes like U69, Inferno or Orient Express surely remind us at Whiplash, while Le Chat Noir is a perfect moment of peace! In an oriental-like tune one is drifting away on the shores of a sandy beach, a martini in your hand and some handsome belly dancers besides you. Top tune on this album is El Camino. The fast rhythm combined with the catchy chorus keeps hanging for a long time, which is rather rare for an instrumental tune. Closely followed is Caramba that opens with some nice jungle drums. Here one can hear even a more dominant role for the organ as well.
Rudolph’s secret is the one oddball in the game. Swami (ex Rat Fink a Boo Boo) who joined the band on drums for six months delivers here an excellent stint by singing the bands Christmas tune once more. Originally done years ago by Axl Peleman on vocals, this tune is once more available thanks to Swami and the rest of the gang.
For the Broadminded was the next logical step for a band like Speedball Jr. and we are glad they took it. Sure the wait was long, but even that is quickly forgotten when spinning the album. As an extra you get old radio advertisements for such forgotten products like Brilcreme, Pepsident or Kent cigarettes! I’m not sure if it has anything to do with it I’m broadminded if you ask me!
Mr Blue Boogie, www.billybop.be
Speedball Jr. is seks. En niet alleen op het podium, met de teasende danseres Sleazy Sandra. Ook op de plaat is de Belgische surfband een en al erotiek.
Zo is daar de geile Fenderreverb van gitarist Fré.74, die de voorganger Whiplash ook al zinderend maakte. Door de toevoeging van organiste Nitro Nicky krijgt het geluid op For the Broad Minded een extra broeierige sfeer.
Nu Fifty Foot Combo de surfplank aan de wilgen heeft gehangen, ligt de titel ‘beste surfband uit België’ voor Speedball Jr. voor het oprapen. Toch verdient de band deze titel juist door het uitstekende spel op For the Broad Minded.
Over het algemeen ligt het tempo op hoger dan op de voorganger. Gitarist Fré.74 geselt zijn instrument nog meer en tovert een tsunami aan riffs uit zijn arme versterker waar geen luisteraar tegen bestand is. Iedereen moet om, en aangejakkerd door de brutaal pompende bas en felle drums lukt dat ook vakkundig.
Speedball Jr. heeft een overtreffende trap weten te maken van het hormonengierende geluid van voorganger Whiplash. Laat die tsunamiwaarschuwing maar komen!
Tijs Heesterbeek, www.kindamusik.nl (22 February 2007)
- February 22, 2007
- Filed under: Reviews, Speedball Jr