Spruiker: Music for toe-tappin’ FREAKS ...CD review by Tammy Tenino

Spruiker: Music for toe-tappin’ FREAKS

...by Tammy Tenino

     This uniquely satisfying band out of Australia brings both classic and uncommon sounds to the Surf Rock venue. The blurb in their CD explains that the title, Music for toe-tappin’ FREAKS, came from an argument between a Spruiker fan and his friend. You know how it is when you have a few intoxicants in your system, don't you? You know how it is when you have a lot of intoxicants there in??? Yeah. Well, there's the rub. Old Spruiker fan says, "It's got a beat and you can tap your feet to it." Equally ancient friend departs on a sour note, exclaiming to his buddy, "If you like this music, you're no friend of mine." Oh, well, friends sometimes say such things, but this guy had a trump card that was to make him infamous. He turned back and screamed, "You're a freak!" Oh, Freakdom! Now that's mean, isn't it? Why not use it? Spruiker swiftly turned lemons into lemonade and swiped the jibe for their album title. Who says revenge isn't sweet?

     And that's what this CD is, sweet. As in "boss" if you're very old, "gnarly" if you're old, "awesome" for those not quite so ancient, "cool" no matter what your age and "bad" if you think "Goat" means a tin can-eating mammal instead of a really hot car. The original tunes are chock full of fast guitars just as you'd anticipate from a vintage surf rock band, with track one's self-named Spruiker both quick and intense. The vocals showcase Darren Garth's voice, which is reminiscent of rock's golden years. Darren's ability to vocalize is a more than pleasant surprise on a CD which I expected to be mainly instrumental. Garth is good. No, he's actually very, very, very good!

     The clever, almost scat-like Something was another eye-opener. I absolutely loved this song! Baby, it just doesn't get any better than this! Here's a girl that found her favorite in a most unexpected place - which is not to say that I expected less from Australia or Spruiker - quite the contrary, I've come to love both. What I mean is, how did Spruiker make a jazzy surf rock sound work so incredibly well? Dynamite.

     Out In The Sun took me back to the early sixties and memories of yacht-sized convertibles, Coca-Cola in swirled green glass bottles and apples stolen fresh from the orchard. There was one thing wrong with this song. It ended before I was tired of listening to it. Granted, as with Out In The Sun, a number of tunes on Music for toe-tappin’ FREAKS aren't technically surf rock, but that's not to say any surf rock fan wouldn't love this CD, because they most assuredly will — and Aloha Boris Yeltsin, Surfsucker and Rainy Day will give die-hards the fix they need of instrumental sounds. As for me, I can't imagine not having a copy of Music for toe-tappin’ FREAKS in my car, in my bedroom, in my living room, at work, at the beach, mountains, desert, Australia, USA, the moon.

     The truth? My buddy, Duke, can't have Spruiker's CD back. I'm nice, but not that nice. Darren, Colin and Mike, you are now officially mine, mine, mine!

Spruiker: Music for toe-tappin’ FREAKS
01) Spruiker	09) Come On Over
02) Your Place On Time	10) Bouncer
03) No Good For You	11) She Lost Her Head
04) Something	12) Aloha Boris Yeltsin
05) Surfsucker	13) Unloaded Gun
06) Nicotine And Caffeine	14) Bumper Sticker
07) Out In The Sun	15) Rainy Day
08) Capsicum Spray

Music for toe-tappin’ FREAKS