The Omega Men - Introducing The Spy-fi Sounds of The Omega Men (MuSick)
"It's the sound. It's the groove. It's the look. It's SPY-FI and it's unlike anything you've heard, felt, or seen before!"
This is the debut full-length release from Pennsylvania's The Omega Men, blending the best of garage and spy music into one cool fifteen-track collection. The opening track (Mania For Blondes)is one of my favs, raw and energetic with lots of guitar and organ. Next up is one of the best versions of John Barry's Beat Girl that I have ever heard. I could rave about each individual track, but since they're all great I'm not gonna waste any more space. Buy this one today!! (Continental #4)

The 1-4-5's - Rock Invasion (Estrus)
"After years of rock research, top scientists of sound and Estrus engineers discovered that an aural pleasure spot in the human ear is naturally stimulated by a single chord progression."
The 1-4-5's deliver the goods on this low-fi rock n' roll thrash-fest. What they lack in audio fidelity they make up for with pure energy. They thrash through these tunes like a fish out of water that's been pumped full of speed. Just as cool as the tunes are the liner notes for this disk. They show you how to play tunes using the "1-4-5 Rule", list a few really screwed up cocktail recipes, and throw in a few funny comics. This is garage-punk as loud and fast as you'll ever find.

Oranj Symphonette - Plays Mancini (Grammavision/Rykodisc)
"Oranj Symphonette is currently exploring/exploding some of the sounds normally associated with easy listening and mood music."
Instead of creating bizarre sound collages with their explorations in sound, Oranj Symphonette have decided to use the familiar canvas of Henry Mancini to paint their pictures. "Experiment In Terror" features the savage cello of Matt Brubeck as the drums pound away in the background. There is a calm in the storm with a fairly straight-forward reading of "The Pink Panther Theme", then things get crazy with their Denny-esque version of "Lujon". If you love Mancini, and you didn't get enough with Del-Fi's Shots In The Dark compilation, this will be sweet music to your ears. (The Continental #1)

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