Customer Reviews

Planet Reverb

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Before I listened to Planet Reverb is was reading the CD booklet- Guitars, Basses, Mandolin, Keyboard, Percussion, Vocals by Daniel J. Written by Daniel J. Produced by Daniel J. and Michael Kramer. Photography by Daniel J. Drums, Percussion, Vocals by Michael Kramer.

There are others involved with this CD including other musicians but my first reaction, before listening to the CD, was that this must be a CD made in someone's garage. Wrong!

This is the best produced instro CD I've heard this year. The sound is crystal clear. The arrangements are very sophisticated. It is not a CD for casual listening. Crank up the volume or put on the headphones and sit back and listen.

There is plenty of variety here. Jetpack is subtle, and so smooth, as styles change from track to track and within a piece. And there are plenty of style changes. As an example there is 'Pedro' - opening with a beautiful spanish guitar, then sound effects and shouts (humor), this leads to a very dramatic trumpet part (transition from humor to drama), blending to rock guitar then more trumpet. Now bridge this smoothly to the next track with a short intro followed by Mystery Prom - a hand holding, walk in the park, watching the sunset, apple pie, slow dance. Plenty of variety. There is plenty of twang, some surf and near surf but this is not trad surf.

All the tracks are originals except Bus Stop and Sounds of Silence. Jetpack does Sounds of Silence as an uptempo Surf tune. It's nice to hear a new major instro talent. I'll be waiting for there next CD.

And the cover artwork is first class.

The L.A. guitarist known as Jetpack has put out a debut CD that can truely be called EPIC. PLANET REVERB ranges from So.Cal. surf to a Texas barn-burner to an ode to the Soviet space program and beyond. The range of styles,(classical guitar, screaming solos, fretless bass a la Jaco) is extrordinary. Sound messy? No way! What makes this so enjoyable for a surf album is the apparent braininess behind it. The songs have varing time signatures and tempos without falling into the "look-how-clever-this-is" catagory. A favorite example: The Russian LUNIK 2 has the Volga River folk tune incorperated into it with what sounds like an army chorus (or exploited workers) singing and marching. The same song has theremin and Dr. Zivagoesque balalakas and mission control speech-and it really rocks, too! Just when it looks like the CD may go too far out there, Jetpack gives us simpler, solid tunes like the lovely MYSTERY PROM. I can swear I see the mirror ball from the live Jetpack show when I listen to it! Wrapping up the whole deal is a wicked version of SOUND OF SILENCE, which starts out like PIPELINE, morphs into DICK DALE style picking, and end with island rhythms. Funny and full of drama...oh yeah, AND IT ROCKS! BUY IT!

surf music (but not only "surf" - instrumental rock music generally) at its best - dramatic, melodic, relaxed, powerful..

This is a great instrumental album. Surf music is quickly gaining a rabid following and Jetpack's debut CD is a great example why. Perfect for road trips with the windows down and the volume cranked. Each track is worthy of multiple listenings, although my favorites are Pedro and Lunik2. There's also a great rendition of Sound of Silence. If you liked the soundtrack to Pulp Fiction, or just surf music in general, you'll love Planet Reverb.

I got this cd after listening to Jetpack on the Sharper Image "Surf Guitar" compilation which he(or they)are on with Dick Dale no less-and have more songs on there than the "king" of surf guitar himself. The best thing about Jetpack is the range they have. Example: Dale has two good songs at best on each new cd he has done since the 80s. Other bands who's vintage sound I enjoy, well I like the sound but the songs are all pretty much the same and I don't have more than a few of their cds.
Also, one reviewer here mentioned you should have all the Blue Hawaiians cds before thinking of Jetpack. Their sound is similar to Jetpack (same record label and producer-go figure) a bit smoother perhaps, but they have hardly recorded any original music. Jetpack is almost all original with two very clever covers. Not to single BHs out, but it is a good example. The live cd is all covers, the studio cds are 50% or more covers. And then to argue with the reviewer who said Jetpack may not be real surf but you should get the Blue Hawaiians first: The Hawaiians were always part lounge band and then became fully lounge! That reviewer wants one minute what he picks on the next.
What I want, and this is coming from a guy who was THERE in the hey-days of surf (in THE OC as my daughter calls it) and yes, tried my hand at the band thing-well aren't you sick already of surf bands trying to sound like it is still 1963? There are plenty of recording from '63 and I have them. Why would a band in this decade pigeon-hole themselves with limited style and songs? Why would someone buying a cd in a store like Jetpack or Blue Hawaiians or modern Dale want it to sound like a lo-fi oldie. The sound here on Planet Reverb is BIG! The songwriting is from simple fun to almost symphonic in the later half of the disk. However, Jetpack does not go way out there like the Mermen who are basically the Grateful Dead of surf bands-see them if you can!
That other reviewer must just hate the Mermen, but they have pushed the genre forward. What I'm saying is: do you think all country cds should still sound like old Carter Family recordings-everyone huddled around a single microphone? Should all jazz still sound like Benny Goodman? Is there room for style to move on as recording technology does? Yes, so why can't surf music? It certainly does with Jetpack, but it still is pretty traditional for the most part.
Interestingly enough and I saved this point for last: if you get the cd "SURFIN' TO NO DOUBT" that I got my daughter who adores that singer of theirs, you CAN have JETPACK playing the heavy old-school surf sounds (with tons and tons of reverb). Jetpack was the band chosen to do that whole cd and though the tunes are all covers I can tell you I love it without knowing what any of the songs are. My daughter likes it because it is like a karaoke cd and she sings all the words every time!
Planet Reverb is distinguishable form any surf cd I have. That's the mark of a great band. To see what Jetpack can do with purely vintage styles (not to mention extremely aggressive guitar playing), treat yourself to the No Doubt cover cd-even if you hate them-but do pick up Planet Reverb to hear a modern, working surf band that stands way above the din of the glut of so many pretenders.

I like surf music; therefore, I wasn't particularly fond of this piece of work. This is essentially instro-rock with surf overtones on some of the selections. The group, well it's a studio album, two musicians who play all the instruments, Daniel J. and Michael Kramer, is extremely talented. Daniel J's guitar playing is crisp, quick and melodic... instrumentally there are no weaknesses. A select group of musicians supply the rest of the sounds... organ, trumpet, steel guitar and theremin. The arrangements and almost all the writing is by Dan. J. Standiford. (the guitarist?)

It opens with "Motel Nowhere", dreamy surf a la Aquavelvets. It starts to rock out in its last minute of play and holds promise for the rest of the CD. It's followed by "The Fury", much of which is dominated by an organ, and which is vaguely interesting. It, in turn, is followed by the Hollies' "Bus Stop", one of two songs, the other being Paul Simon's "The Sounds of Silence" which have been written outside the group. There is nothing to recommend the former, but the latter does begin with an interesting "Pipeline" riff before it turns into a vaguely Polynesian chant and mercifully comes to an end.

Three of the numbers, "Get Even", "Agent J" and "Fail Safe" are derivative... "Where have I heard that riff before?" "Lunik 2 left me with an urge to put on a group that does this genre better - the Red Elvises. The highlight of the album may be "Texas Longboard" with an opening ripped right out of "Folsom Prison Blues"; it's the closest to a real surfer stomp that you'll find... western, fast and slightly raucous featuring a steel guitar and a boogie background.

The tune "Pedro" opens with a nice Spanish acoustic riff followed by a comic bit which evolves into a Spanish flavoured piece a la early surf as in Dick Dale. Sure enough, Dick Dale's Deltones' trumpet shows up. Not finished with Pedro, he returns on the last track... why? I'm not really sure. Okay, I liked "Mystery Prom", a dreamy last-dance tune beautifully rendered and evocative of all the slow surf you've ever heard since the Beach Boys sang "The Lonely Sea".

Should you buy it? Only after you have all the recordings by The Blue Hawaiians, Laika and the Cosmonauts, Rhino's Cowabunga box, the Lively Ones' Hang Five and Heads Up recordings and Del Phi's Pulp Surfin... even the Ventures' New Depths.

I like surf music; therefore, I wasn't particularly fond of this piece of work. This is essentially instro-rock with surf overtones on some of the selections. The group, well it's a studio album, two musicians who play all the instruments, Daniel J. and Michael Kramer, is extremely talented. Daniel J's guitar playing is crisp, quick and melodic... instrumentally there are no weaknesses. A select group of musicians supply the rest of the sounds... organ, trumpet, steel guitar and theremin. The arrangements and almost all the writing is by Dan. J. Standiford. (the guitarist?)

It opens with "Motel Nowhere", dreamy surf a la Aquavelvets. It starts to rock out in its last minute of play and holds promise for the rest of the CD. It's followed by "The Fury", much of which is dominated by an organ, and which is vaguely interesting. It, in turn, is followed by the Hollies' "Bus Stop", one of two songs, the other being Paul Simon's "The Sounds of Silence" which have been written outside the group. There is nothing to recommend the former, but the latter does begin with an interesting "Pipeline" riff before it turns into a vaguely Polynesian chant and mercifully comes to an end.

Three of the numbers, "Get Even", "Agent J" and "Fail Safe" are derivative. "Lunik 2 left me with an urge to put on a group that does this genre better - the Red Elvises. The highlight of the album may be "Texas Longboard" with an opening ripped right out of "Folsom Prison Blues"; it's the closest to a real surfer stomp that you'll find... western, fast and slightly raucous featuring a steel guitar and a boogie background.

The tune "Pedro" opens with a nice Spanish acoustic riff followed by a comic bit which evolves into a Spanish flavoured piece a la early surf as in Dick Dale. Sure enough, Dick Dales' trumpet shows up. Not finished with Pedro, he returns on the last track... why? I'm not really sure. Okay, I liked "Mystery Prom", a dreamy last-dance tune beautifully rendered and evocative of all the slow surf you've ever heard since the Beach Boys sang "The Lonely Sea".

Should you buy it? Only after you have all the recordings by The Blue Hawaiians, Laika and the Cosmonauts, Rhino's Cowabunga box, the Lively Ones' Hang Five and Heads Up recordings and Del Phi's Pulp Surfin... even the Ventures' New Depths.