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The Jalapenos

Tear It Up!

Released 2003 on 3D Discs
Reviewed by The Count, Sep 2005ce

Let me get this straight. This is a rock’n’roll album. A cursory glance at the track listing will prove that — Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, they’re all here. There’s even a version of “Louie Louie”.

“So what?”, I hear you say. Well, they’re all very well played versions, and the guitarist and drummer certainly have their wilder moments, but what brings me back again and again to this CD is track 15. “Dragula”.

It’s kind of a weird surf/drag/horror instrumental, the kind of thing you’d find on lots of early ’60s surf albums. BUT it’s menacing. It’s drenched in reverb. It’s got a really odd ultra-primitive white noise synth intro and outro. This would be all well and good, but what sets it apart is the appearance of Hawkwind’s Nik Turner on saxophone. It is quite possibly the best bit of sax he has ever recorded. It’s raucous, it rocks, it’s wild, it’s astonishing. One only wishes it was a lot longer.

Who these guys are, and why Nik Turner is on there, I have no idea. 

Anyone?!?