MIKELANGELO AND THE TIN STAR – THE SURF AND WESTERN SOUNDS OF…
It is perhaps surprising that it has taken so long for such a natural collaboration of genres. The tremolo of the surf riff and the twang of country rockabilly. The Surf and Wesern Sounds of Mikelangelo and the Tin Star are just that, with a tinge of Eastern European cool courtesy of Mikelangelo, perhaps if Dick Dale had grown up in the Balkans…As Mikelanagelo declares with conviction on the opening track :”Action! Is my middle name”. Clocking in at just over the half hour mark, Mikey and the boys don’t waste too many bars here, and the playing of the German born guitarist Fiete Geronimo Geier is top notch, his tremolo work inspires flash-backs to The Atlantic’s and The Shadows – if only Cliff Richards had the suave moves of our Mickey! The Armada throws in some timely Tex-Mex horns that are a well-chosen touch, spicing things up in a genre that can outstay its welcome and adding that Morricone touch. There weren’t many surf boards at the OK Corral, perhaps if there had been…
*** 1/2
