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| Released November 2012 |
Until recently, I was familiar
with Link Wray mostly by reputation
and the song ‘Rumble’. He was one
of those guys on my list to get more acquainted with. Well as fortune would have it, I grabbed the ‘Big City After
Dark’ double 45 reissue from Sundazed
during the latest Record Store Day event.
Credited to Link Wray And The
Raymen (his brothers and friends), this set features two rare singles
originally released by the Mala label in 1962. I was pretty excited to open up the mini-gatefold jacket and
throw the first side on the turntable.
What came out of the speakers next was mind melting! Featuring overdriven guitar bends with heavy protopunk
leanings and backed by a tight classic rock ‘n’ roll rhythm section, ‘Big City
After Dark’ sounds like what many of the latest wave of garage rockers have
been striving for. The innovation
and energy of Link’s guitar playing jumps right out and doesn’t let up through
the entire set of tunes. ‘Hold It’
is even more aggressive than ‘Big City After Dark’ and ‘Dance Party Pts. 1
& 2’ sound like awesome ragers.
Link sings a bit on those ones too. I’m not typically into instrumentals in the rock realm, but
Link Wray transcends the notion of an “instrumental” and blasts it to pieces. Link deserves even more credit than he
already gets and I’m looking forward to searching for more great cuts from him
and his fabulous Raymen.
Thanks For
Reading...
Tune courtesy of Surfadelic
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