You might imagine that, given the rather spare nature of the instrumentation, the music would end up all sounding the same. You'd be wrong.

Sultan wrings a wide variety of sound out of his modest collection of tools. If you overlook the fact that the beat doesn't change much over the course of the record (and c'mon, seriously, how many beats can you get out of two drums by kicking them?), it would be difficult to tell that it wasn't a "full" band. Even then, actually; there are a few drummers around with full kits who don't do much more than BBQ does.

Tie Your Noose is 12 songs of straight-ahead, bare bones rock & roll. According to the news release, it's all done in the style popular between 1959-63. Well, OK. I wasn't breathing air myself before late 1960, but it doesn't sound like an unreasonable claim. Not quite so raucous as The Konks, but there are some rowdy moments. "Outta My Mind" (different song, yet again - I'm sensing a theme here), "Year Old Wine", "Tie Your Noose", "Hang It Up", and "Burn This Town" all chug along at a pretty good clip, edging close to the garage at times, while "Record Machine" has its own Buddy Holly-esque feel to it. The slower numbers ("Waddlin' Around", "Don't Hold Out On Me", a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Out Of Time") very definitely have that late-Fifties teenage record party feel to them.

Are either of these discs gonna change the way you listen to music? Nope. Well, probably not, anyway. But y'know, I don't think either band was after that sort of reaction. They're not trying to make enormous artistic statements, they're about having fun. Which, if you'll recall, was our goal.

So when you're ready to strap on that loincloth and make like an ape man/woman, keep these discs in mind. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go stick a bone in my hair.