DAIKAIJU
The Phasing Spider Menace (self-released)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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A while back, when I received the 6-song debut CD by this mysterious band who wear Japanese kabuki-noh masks masks and play a powerful brand of instrumental music approximating surf, I raved, did cartwheels, and concluded that they owed the world a full length CD as soon as possible. Along comes a spider... Well, a Phasing Spider Menace, to be precise, and it's not exactly what I'd pressed my hands together and prayed for that day (I was kind of asking the forces of the universe to help save surf in general).

Instead of a full length CD, Phasing Spider Menace contains 3 audio tracks and 3 videos. How odd. It's not exactly what I had in mind, but it's certainly an interesting package, and a bargain at six bucks. The music isn't as diverse as we heard on the debut, which featured fusions of surf and ska, surf and reggae, and surf and a few other sounds, but what this one lacks in diversity it makes up for in intensity. It's all about reverb, power and intrigue, a surfy-spy sound here, a monster in town there.

By the way, in my previous review of Daikaiju I mentioned that they may or may not be from Japan. Current information places them in the heart of Huntsville, Alabama, but whether they're American or Japanese, the energy (and mayhem) of the Japanese monster movie genre comes through in their sound. A most interesting band. Learn more and pick up the CDs at www.daikaiju.net.

© 2002 - DJ Johnson