THE DEMONICS
Ritual On The Beach (Superbee Studios)
Reviewed by Alan Wright

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I should state here and now that I am a big fan of these guys already, and getting a new CD by them is cause for some excitement on my part. I first heard 'em on Lookout's All Punk Rods compilation, and picked up their Formaldehyde Injection CD and was blown away. Playing a great mix of nitro fuel-injected surf and pop-punk, I was mighty impressed. Here was this trio that penned amazingly catchy tunes, plus they dress up like devils when they play, and were obsessed with hot rods and girls.

When their second CD (after some choice singles) Demons On Wheels came out, I grabbed it and loved it even more. Now, here's the "difficult third album," but there ain't nothin' difficult about loving this! Since they record at their own Superbee Studios, there's this definite quality control and sound thing going on. If anything, there might be a bit more surf influence here, but that excellent buzzsaw guitar sound is still plentiful. So, you get great songs like "Summoning Neptune," "Sector 9," "Bikini Bitch," "Evil Angel" and "Whatever Happened To The Sun?" They also cover Nikki and the Corvettes' "Girls Like Me," changing it to "Boys Like Me," but with the added attraction of actually having Nikki Corvette adding duet vocals! Mike Fox (a.k.a. "Wholly Smokes" of Dwarves, Los Olividados and Drunk Injuns fame) also plays extra guitar on a couple of tracks, one of which is the cool instro "Mavericks." Excellent!

© 2003 - Alan Wright