The Sandblasters "Cactus Stingray" 1998

Instrumental soundtrack music that surges through the veins of the sunbaked Mojave Desert, the coolness of the unexplored cosmos and the fears of subterranean darkness. A potent soundtrack for the sci-fi space cowboy adventure movie in our minds.After several years of development, Mark Stultz' band the Sandblasters has delivered a very solid CD of crunchy Spanish influenced western visionary surf and twang. The thing that struck me about this disc is the quality of the performance. It is not just solid, but Mark doesn't need to rely on volume of speed. Much of the material is mid tempo, yet it's powerful and magnetic. His bandmates Spencer Clarke - drums, and Drew Shuller - bass provide a crisp foundation. Much like Mark's work here, it is conspicuous in it's most appropriate and well defined support role, instead of obviated by the players egos. There is a definite sense of ensemble here. Most of the songs are longer, some are quite dramatic, all are very artful. Solid CD. - Phil Dirttrax:
01 Quick Sand 02 Cactus Stingray 03 Flight P-51 04 Hungarian Hunch Dance 05 Submersionary 06 Big Sky 07 Brutal Surfers 08 Bonesaw 09 The Duel 10 Snake Shake 11 Board Breaker 12 Toothless Cannibal 13 El Cucumbre 14 Raygun Smasher 15 Estrellas