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SUSAN & THE SURF-TONES
All The Beat/Best Live (Code)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson
Susan & The Surf-Tones are led by guitarist Susan Yasinski, a New York native who grew up torn between the sweet tones of instrumental surf and the rude atty-tood of the garage bands. On her first few albums, the surf side was clearly winning out, but then she really didn't have a band. The Surf-Tones have always been Susan and whoever was there at the time. Not so the past few years, not since she added former 1313 Mockingbird Lane keyboardist Kim 13. That's also when the garage and the surf started going neck and neck around the track and it really got interesting.
This live CD, recorded at The Bop Shop in Rochester, New York, presents a real, honest t'goodness rock n roll band, surfy n heavy at the same time, just like I like 'em. Typical of Susan's no bullshit attitude toward everything in her life, the show is presented as is, warts and all, and in the opening number ("Pipeline"), she seems to have a touch of the cold finger syndrome. Doesn't take long for her to warm up, however, and the rest of the show is just bam, boom, smack, pow. With Brian Goodman (drums) and Dave Anderson (bass) making it deep, dark and mysterious, Kim 13 adds her special touch of simple-yet-atmospheric high register organ chords. Then there's Susan, who just gets better all the time, and hey, I could swear she's playing through a 40-inch speaker this time. What a sound!
By track three ("Stinger '67") the band is in full swing, and you sense the continuity. There are 21 tracks, the majority being classics. One criticism I've had in the past is that Susan needed to find a way to make those songs her own. While a few are done quite faithfully here, quite a few more are now Susan's. It doesn't always work out -- I could really do without this version of "Wipe-out" -- but more often it does. Their take on "Diamond Head" got three listens in a row from me, and I just don't do that. "Blue Moon" is pretty sweet, too. I'm sure that must have been done as a surf tune before, but I've only heard it as doowop, so pardon me while I'm bowled over.
It's a pretty fine show, ladies and gentlemen. I'm not too sure closing on an instrumental version of "My Generation" was a choice I'd have made, but maybe that's why I'm sitting here writing this and not entertaining you with my guitar. Ya think? Yes, well, what I think is that with each album Susan and the Surf-Tones put out, there's significant growth. Kinda fun to watch it happen. One thing is certain: it's definitely not just "Susan and some other people" anymore.
Track List:
Pipeline * Rumble * Stinger '67 * Baja * Apache * Sunburn * Walk Don't Run * Jezebel * Tiki Kiki * Jack The Dripper * Tequila * Trembler/Ace Of Spades * Topsy * Penetration * Tramp * Diamond Head * Raw-Hide * Spanish Wave * Blue Moon * Wipe-Out * My Generation
© 2001 - DJ Johnson