Audio By Carbonatix
There was a time, back in the day (³day² meaning two or three years ago), when you couldn¹t turn over your pet rock without seeing the name the Dillengers. But the West Palm Beach-based surf-rock trio finally got the heck out of Dodge and headed for the smoggier pastures of L.A. What transpired there is still a mystery, but they ended up signing to guitarist Steve Vai¹s label, Favored Nations. Wait, come back! Yes, the name Steve Vai will forever be associated with ¹80s guitar wankery, but the Dillengers have created an album that is wank-free. The 13 tracks on Instro-Mania are — you guessed it — all instrumentals, tackling everything from the Goldfinger theme song to the theme from The Magnificent Seven. There are a coupla originals thrown in there too. ³Astrosurfin¹² reverberates with a combination of fuzzed-out organ and poppy, ¹60s surf twang. ³Dirtbag² is an aptly titled, honky-tonkin¹ ditty. You can almost envision the band playing it when a barroom brawl breaks out and someone gets thrown down the bar by a biker named Baby Teeth straight into a pyramid of beer cans. The Dillengers aren¹t stomping on any new ground here, but at least they¹re fun, and they make the theme song from The Munsters sound kinda sexy.
