The Boss Martians "Move!" 2000

After being the "clean-cut" members of the Surf-&-Hot-Rod music scene for all these years, The Boss Martians have decided to cut loose & charge things up. This is evidenced on the 2 best tracks on MOVE!, "She's In You're Gone" and "I Want More". Radio stations should be playing stuff like this!!! The rest of the album is one surprise after another-- MOVE! is in the same ballpark as such classics as REVOLVER, PISCES AQUARIUS CAPRICORN & JONES LTD and BETWEEN THE BUTTONS-- every song almost sounds like it was done by a different band! There's bossa-nova, country-western, even (why am I surprised?) hot-rod music. Of the BM albums widely available, this is by FAR the best yet-- although, my personal fave to date is the previous outing, LOCKDOWN PARTY (available only as an import LP), which features an even better version of "Little Sally Tease" than the one here.
Fans who dig the "louder" sound here have lots to be happy for-- the NEXT album (coming SOON from MuSick Recordings) promises to go even more in that direction, to match their current stage show. And for anyone looking for their more obscure releases, I'd recommend you do a "Yahoo Search", as I've found the JETAWAY SOUNDS and the "XKE!" single are still available at the Hillsdale site; INVASION OF THE LIVE BOSS MARTIANS can be found at the Vagrant site; and the BOSS MARTIANS / SURF TRIO ep and the HOT RODS TO HELL comps can be found at Blood Red's site! Seek 'em out, ye hot-rod fanatics! - By Henry R. KujawaFor their third and final album for the Dionysus label, the Boss Martians haven't moved too far away from their reverent yet formulaic rendering of mid-'60s West Coast teen rock, rockabilly, surf, garage rock, and power pop. In 1998, the Seattle-based band's longtime drummer, Dan Israel, departed from the group, forcing group leader/guitarist/vocalist Evan Foster to recruit former Untamed Youth drummer Joel Trueblood for their next recording sessions. Bassist Scott Betts was the next to leave, taking off on his honeymoon; he was replaced by Steve "Esquerita" Davis. Finally, drummer Jason Reavis came aboard, taking over for the substituting Trueblood. With this game of musical chairs going on during the recordings, you'd half expect the new lineup to have invigorated the group, but all it does is point out that Foster and his group don't seem to want to be taken too seriously anyway. For the most part, the Boss Martians are still replicating the same stuff they've been doing since they formed eight years earlier. Move! -- clocking in at a mere 35 minutes -- is a ramshackle mix of '60s song styles and subgenres, pinballing between vocal tracks and various odd instrumentals. Of the latter, the surfalicious "The Last Ride" has a nice vibrato electric piano break, while the perky "Intermission" is a bossa nova-meets-Korla Pandit bit of whimsy. "Trouble on Two Wheels" veers off the path and crashes into a Middle Eastern-sounding klezmer breakdown with a clarinet riff that couldn't possibly sound more out-of-place on a rock & roll album. Other instrumentals include "Chihuahua del Diablo," a slow, Latinesque surf instrumental with a sultry acoustic guitar lead, and "Pandilla en Motocicleta," which sounds like an uninspired mix of Davie Allan's polished '90s-style fuzz guitar and standard disco drumbeats. The vocal tracks fare better, though they're a scattershot mix as well. "Never Trust a Chick (In a 3 Window Coupe)" wouldn't have sounded too out of place on a Bobby Fuller Four's hot rod album. Several of the other tracks are muscular power pop, the kind that Paul Collins' Beat or 20/20 used to play back in the early '80s; not too surprisingly, both Foster and keyboardist Nick Contento also have a power pop band, the Mystery Action. The rumbling "This Time Around" has a ripping guitar lead and a simplistic synth riff that repeats, ad infinitum. Foster even tosses an unnecessary wah-wah guitar into the title track, "Move!" Foster's chirpy Beach Boys-style vocals are somewhat huskier throughout, especially on "She's In, You're Gone," which, as the leadoff track, is probably the album's best track. "Introducing - The 1971 Dodge Super Bee" and "Bad Ass Dodge '71 Super Bee" are just plain corny, nuff said, and the band's cover of the Kingsmen's "Little Sally Tease" comes across as largely uneventful. An unlisted bonus track is tacked on to the end of track 14. - AllMusic Review by Bryan Thomas

The Boss Martians:

Evan Foster (vocals, guitar); Nick Contento (piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Scott Betts (acoustic & electric basses); Joel Trueblood (drums, percussion)

trax:

01 She's In, You're Gone 02 I Want More 03 The Last Ride 04 Introducing - The 1971 Dodge Charger Super Bee 05 Bad Ass '71 Dodge Super Bee 06 Trouble On 2 Wheels 07 This Time Around 08 Intermission 09 Move! 10 Never Trust A Chick (In A 3 Window Coupe) 11 Chihuahua Del Diablo 12 Mugs O' Plenty 13 Little Sally Tease 14 Pandilla En Motocicleta