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Red Planet – ‘We Know How It Goes’ (Gearhead Records) 

Being on Gearhead Records, you would assume Red Planet would be another nitro blasted, gritty, riff-heavy rock band.  Not the case with this album.  It’s very high energy, high fun and happy rock n roll, complete with upbeat lyrics and goofy synthesizers and even a song called “Goth Girl”.  Some tracks will confuse the crap out of you, like “Changing Colors”, which has harmonized vocals almost too sugary to be Beach Boys material.  Songs like “Blackout” and “Burning Cigarettes” make you wonder where Red Planet’s time machine is headed next.  A tip of the hat is in order to Red Planet for making such a fun record on a label that seems to be dominated by hard and heavy oil-stained rock. (Andy Knox)

Satan’s Teardrops/The Legendary Hucklebucks – Split CD (Rock N Roll Purgatory)

Satan’s Teardrops don’t deliver anything I haven’t heard before, but good songwriting and playing compensates for any lack of originality.  “The Last Stop” is the one track that really stands out for me.  It’s one of those mournful minor key tunes like “Ghost Riders in the Sky”, and features some tasty guitar playing that can give you the chills.  The vocalist is pretty good, but he tries too many different singing styles to ever settle into a distinctive voice.  This also leads to him singing out of his range on “Dark City”, and his delivery on the Johnny Cash tune “I Got Stripes” is just kind of bland.  If this CD were a cage match, The Legendary Hucklebucks would have the Teardrops down for the three count.  As far as musicianship goes, the bands are pretty evenly matched.  The Hucklebucks’ vocalist is more distinctive, though, and the band gets a slight edge in the songwriting department, as well.  They also have more of a dark vibe to their material, which is just a personal preference of mine.  “Pork Rinds & Gasoline” and “Run Devil Run” are standouts in this vein.  Again, like the Teardrops, not overly original but good enough that I don’t care.  The only misstep is a cover of “All Night Boppin’”, originally done by The Real Kids.  I’m sure it’s a good song in a live setting, but seems kind of flat on here when compared to the band’s original material.  A cover of Stick McGhee’s “The Wino Boogie” fares much better. (Bob Ignizio)

Spy-Fi – ‘Music for Spies, Thighs, and Private Eyes’ Volumes 1 and 2 (Sivle Records) 

This is a two disc set of instrumental “spy” and surf music, mostly cover versions of songs from the sixties.  Do we really need two discs of this at once?  Probably not, but there’s still plenty of good stuff here.  Familiar tunes like “The James Bond Theme”, “Town Without Pity”, “Pipeline”, and “Mission: Impossible” have been remade countless times, but Spy Fi still manage to come up with fresh approaches to these old warhorses.  Sometimes this is done by combining two or more songs, but most of the time the difference is just in the arrangements and playing of the musicians.  The band tosses in a few of their own originals.  “Neptune”, “Persuasion”, “Slingshot”, “Zombo Shuffle”, “Stampede” and “Beach Police” sound just fine next to the classics on here.  In fact, if the band could have come up with enough of them to make a whole album, the two disc concept might have felt more justified.  The production is slick, but the bass could stand to be a bit louder in the mix, and I would have preferred a more aggressive guitar sound.  Of  course, that’s probably because I’m into more modern instrumentalists like Man…or Astro Man? and later period Dick Dale, while Spy-Fi is trying to capture more of the clean and precise sound of The Ventures and the lush feel of John Barry ‘Bond’ soundtracks.  You can get more info, and order a copy of these discs if you’re so inclined, by visiting the band’s website.  (Bob Ignizio)

Swing Ding Amigos – ‘The Mongolita Chronicles’ (Rock N Roll Purgatory/Wronghole Records) 

This band sounds kind of like The MC5 on 78rpm, with some seventies punk and sixties garage influence thrown in for good measure.  Not all of the songs make an impression, but a few stand out.  “Gargamel” takes a variation on the “Sonic Reducer” riff and puts a more melodic vocal line on top of it to nice effect.  “Eco Pecho” and “Caligula” are strong tracks, as well.  Probably the best tune is a sixties garage rock “dance craze” type number called “The Smurf”.  The production sounds very retro.  The guitar sound once again calls to mind The MC5, and everything sounds like it’s in the red, like on a Sonics album.  My biggest problem with Swing Ding Amigos is it feels like these guys are in too much of a hurry to get to the finish line.  While this may seem an odd comparison, the songs remind me of early Guided by Voices in the sense that just as you start to get into them, they’re over.  About half the songs clock in at less than a minute, and only one breaks the 2 minute mark.  I’m not asking for Yes’ ‘Tales from Topographic Oceans’, but another chorus thrown on the end wouldn’t hurt.  I know attention spans aren’t what they used to be, but the snippets of songs on here are good enough that I’m sure folks would pay attention for another 30 seconds or so.  Remember, kids.  Speed kills.  (Bob Ignizio)