The Cruncher "Go Surfin´ With The Cruncher" 1987

A surf album from West Germany! I have to admit it comes as a bit of a surprise to find surfers with names like Wolfgang and Klaus. The Rhine is obviously far choppier than I would have been imagined! Anyway " whoever and wherever " this is a fine, fine surf record…...Old beach friend like "Baja" and "Penetration" are taken for another whip through the foam, and even though you have heard them many times before you´ll be happy to renew their acquaintanceship for these are strong full-bodied versions that hold their own in comparison with the originals. "Surf Beat" in particular is great - full of dark, brooding power with acything guitar cutting through the maelstrom of sound, and with menacing background sax lending even further darkness. A brace of Gary Ushers best tunes are included - "Oceanside" and "Wheel Stands" - and Lee Hazlewood goes one better with the trio of the Astronauts "Baja" and "Movin" and Al Casey´s "El Aquila". Bobby Fullers "My Favourite Martian" demonstrates The Cruncher´s wet, splashy sound perfectly, whilst the powerful latin flavoured sound of The Sentinals "Latinia" presents no problem to them at all - nor for that matter does Dick Dale´s mexican styled "Taco Wagon" which also highlights their impressive guitar mastery. There´s also a couple of unexpected recruits in the String-A-Longs "Mathilda" and the Fendermens "Torture" both of which make the transition to surf effortless and convincingly. The Cruncher are to be applauded for an excellent album and if only there had been a few originals of comperable quality added to the tracks here we would have been talking about five star efforts. - Pipeline Issue 2, England
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traxfromwax:
01 - Surf Beat 02 - Penetration 03 - Baja 04 - Oceanside 05 - Latinia 06 - Mathilda 07 - Torture 08 - My Favorite Martian 09 - El Aquila 10 - Wheel Stands 11 - Movin' 12 - Taco Wagon
…originally served by Russ...