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Punk rock is all that matters. You can take the current crop
of 21st century music and shove it down the toilet. In 5
years, no one will remember Creed or P.O.D. or whatever crap is
playing on MTV this week.
So when I received the new CD from
The Dirt Surfers, Caffeine
Injection, with its bright, angry red cover, I felt that I might
be a witness to something special.
Caffeine Injection is special, but not in the way I thought -
while punk is represented, the CD is also packed with metal and
melodic rock riffs, (mostly) in an instrumental rock context.
I've listened to this album about 20 times in the last week, and am
constantly amazed at the songwriting skills displayed by the chief
Dirt Surfer, Doug Cornell (AKA "The Dirt Kahuna").
Cornell is the lead guitarist on the album (and I think he also
plays/programs the percussion). Containing 10 songs (8
instrumentals and 2 vocal tracks) this album is nothing
like anything I've ever heard. With emphasis upon melody
and composition, The Dirt Surfers cook up a guitar sound that is part
Ventures, part Pixies, part Bad Religion, and part Sabbath.
Caffeine Injection begins with "Theme From an Imaginary
Bikini Waxing," (one of several hilarious titles!), a bouncy
instrumental that features an absolutely scorching guitar solo near
the middle. Next up is the title track, a surf-metal
song that sounds like an 18 wheeler fueled by equal parts nitrous
and Novocain. "Sucking Wind," an interesting tune that blends
Dub with surf, slows the pace for a bit before the fast-and-furious
surf track, "Cheap Bastard" kicks in at 180 BPM.
I was somewhat confused by "Land of 10000 Viruses," a vocal track
that is sung from the perspective of a hacker who writes viruses.
This song, which would be right at home on a New Order album, is quite a
change here, but it still
works.
"Searching for the Monkey Crack" puts the album back
on track. An incredibly cool sounding guitar drives a
ferocious rhythm that had me moshing in my chair. I've already
started learning this song on my guitar. The album continues
with "Teenage Toilet Paper Disaster," a blistering track that would
fit any movie chase scene, "Shades of Blue," a beautiful slow
instrumental, and "I'm Only In It For the Duck," another pure surf
tune.
The album closes with one of the coolest punk anthems
I've ever heard, "Rebellion for the Sake of Rebellion." In
this song, Cornell puts down just about everything our country holds
sacred: WalMart, Microsoft, goatees, trailer park culture, SUV's,
facial piercings, tattoos, and fat guitarists. I nearly fell
out of my chair when I heard the lyrics to this slammin' song.
In case you can't tell, I really like Caffeine
Injection. The Dirt Surfers prove there is still life left
in the instrumental genre. No matter what type of music you're
listening to these days, do yourself a favor and check out this
band.
Download free MP3's from
Caffeine Injection
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Injection
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