It has been nearly six years since the last Space Cossacks album came out, notwithstanding any cool colorful 7” or LP vinyl that they have a habit of releasing.
Never Mind The Bolsheviks: The Best Of… is a compilation of the best of their incredible two albums released on MuSick Records, including live cuts and some unreleased studio gems. All of that is fine and dandy with me, I love this band, and in fact, I have never had a bad thing to say about them. The only complaint I have is that they have not put out a new album in so long! It is understandable why, you simply cannot make a living performing and recording in the genre.
Back in '60s, the golden age, otherwise known as the first wave of surf instrumental, it was different; there were songs that actually charted. Now a majority of young listeners do not even know this music exists, which is a cryin’ shame. Maybe CDs like this will fall into the right hands and serve as an introduction to the third wave of surf instrumentals to legions of music fans just dying for something new to sink their teeth, or ears, into, we can only hope.
Twenty-Four tracks are crammed into this CD, well not exactly crammed, all tracks in this genre run for two to three minutes, which is pretty much the standard. Regardless, this band is one of the very best at what they do. Ivan Pongracic is one of the highly regarded and pioneering players in this circle, or small community of musicians if you will, he is comparable to the "big fish in a small pond" analogy. Ivan is one of the reigning kings of surf instro guitar because of his nod to the past, his roots, and the ability to recognize all of the sub genres and influences thereof that make the music what it is. His playing can be vicious and beautifully tasteful within one song.
Article comments