I often accidentally leave Mustang Lightning off my quick list of New Orleans surf bands. Possibly because even their myspace lists them in two other places as well and I've never seen a concert listing for them. While I'd picked up an old copy of their more recent album Texas Voodoo Surf it didn't grab me, though checking out their myspace again and listening to this album I think maybe it needs another listen.
So I don't really know much about them or about this release and all I could find was that it was meant as a sort of Dick Dale/Link Wray tribute, though they certainly do a little more than that considering stuff like the Astronauts and Good, Bad and Ugly covers. But those covers are good! This band is hardly the first to cover that old...uh... Clint Eastwood classic (according to the CD), but this is certainly in the upper ranks of those that I've heard. The whole album is really quick and aggressive but with some playful touches and a personality of its own. For instance one track features a banjo solo that doesn't sound too out of place.
If you can judge by that CD cover right up there, this is pretty rough quality. I don't necessarily mean lo-fi, I mean sub-par engineering (but not that bad), sub-par packaging and a crude attitude: they finish off their thanks with "This disc is Dedicated to ALL the HOT Bitches from South fo the Border That Love to Dance until they Droo" (I think the P is cut off). But crudeness plays well with Rock & Roll. I don't know whether this is a demo or just a plain old "LIMITED EDITION CD", I just saw it today at the Mushroom and thought it was good enough to throw on here.
Here's a tracklist (as listed on the CD)
Our Side
- Speed Crazy
- Barbwire
- El Toro Diablo
- Boys Ranch
- Slow Walk
Their Side
- Thunder (Jodie Reynolds)
- Banzai Pipeline (The Astronauts)
- The Good, The Bad, and, the Ugly (Clint Eastwood)
- Ghost Riders (traditional)
- I'm Dead (Western Waste)
and the 11th track is some sort of interview and outtake thing that's still worth listening to.
Download it HERE