CD 192684 KEESSIE & THE SELTENS OF SWING

Tracks: The Moose / Make Like Rock & Roll / Honey Hush / Hank Honey / Dance To The Bop / Splish Splash / Sure-Fire Way / Pop, Let Me Have Your Car / Ca Plane Pour Moi / Hungry Man / Don't Touch My Car / Jump Back, Honey Jump Back / Twenty Flight Rock / Check My Hair / The Train Kept A-Rollin' / Kili-Watch / She's Mean / Ain't Got No Home / Jump, Jive & Wail / The Night Train

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Tracks: Sold My Soul To Rock & Roll / Don´t Wanna Be Lonely / Miserlou (instr.) / Sweet Little Sixteen / One Night / Cosmonautical Xpression (instr.) / Be-Bop-A-Lula / I´m Ready / Surfing At Horseshoe Bay (instr.) / All I Have To Do Is Dream / Blue Suede Shoes / Pipeline (instr.) / Shake, Rattle & Roll / Runaway / Sleepwalk (instr.) / Johnny B. Goode / Bye Bye Love / Surf Rider (instr.) / Viva Las Vegas / Whole Lotta Shakin´ Goin´ On

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CD 192529 SURFIN' SOUNDS OF ... (fully instrumental CD)

Tracks: Unknown, Shish Kebab, Bali Ha'i, Loempia, Yang Bu, Malaguena, The Breeze And I, Blue Surf, Music To Watch Girls By, Golash, Eleventh Hour, Vibrations, Bombora, Long Ride, Pipeline, Beach Head, Beat Girl, Twilight Zone, The Jester, Midnight Run, Russian Roulette

(from PIPELINE #35 - Spring 1997)

Now here's ons I've been looking forward to greatly, though also with some trepidation in case it didn't meet my expectations. The three-guitar attack of The Krontjong Devils is a potent force live. With reverb aplenty they, along with The Chantays, have really pinned down the surf sound. However, their vinyl releases thus far have failed to do them justice. the sound not carrying the same weight. 16 tracks are in the can for a vinyl album but we had heard that Rarity wanted to use all new recordings for this CD. The danger was that the excitement could be lost in the search for that perfect sound. The result could be described as a sensible compromise, in that the sound is great and the energy is still there because they have not agonised over getting the perfect take for every number. Effectively this brings The Krontjong Devils' live show into your living room and the very occasional minor imperfection only adds to the atmosphere. The 21 numbers make up a sensible 46 minutes' worth (i.e. 1/2 of a C90!) of mainly sixties covers, and bloody good they are too! Most are not obvious choices either, Pipeline and Midnight run being the most familiar titles. Pipeline is a good exemple of the benefits of the three guitar line-up as one takes the lead, one the fills and chords and the other the reverb cascades and runs that form the backbone of the piece. There's also a hint of electric piano in there to add further beef. Midnight Run provides a surfer's delight as the three guitars join the tiki-tiki intro in turn before the number takes off on its two minute joy ride. The other surf covers will be less familiar to those newer to the genre, although there are some well-known melodies amongst them. Bali Ha'i was surfed up by The Irridescents, Malaguena by The Uniques, Tornadoes and Trashmen, and The Breeeze & I by The Vibrents and Jim Messina & The Jesters. The latter were also responsible for Yang Bu and The Jester, both reverb belters from their 60s LP. From The Ventures' catalogue come Eleventh Hour and Twlight Zone, two great moody surf-space themes. Golash and Unknown are storming surf classics from The Intrepides and Vy-Dels respectively, both A-sides to highly collectable one-off 60s surf singles. Unusual choices are Music To Watch Girls By and John Barry's Beat Girl in clean-cut guitar versions which provide brief relief from the reverb onslaught. The CD closes, as it began and true its theme, with more reverb on another obscure surf classic Russian Roulette from The Nevegans. This is an album that all fans of 60s surf guitar will love, not least for the chance to play it right through without having to skip tracks. Its quality also makes it an ideal choice for any surf virgins out there who are thinking of taking the plunge. It's high on energy, high on sound, and should be high on every guitar fan's "wants" list. I certainly wasn't disappointed. (Alan Taylor)

Check the following review as well:
http://www.spies.com/~reverb/reviews/k/krontjong2554.html

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