Captain Rico & The Ghost Band - The Forgotten Memory of the Beaches (Album review)
- Written by Johnno.Johnno
Somewhere swishing around Quentin Tarantino's hyperactive, encyclopaedic mind of music and cinema, sits an idea for an eleventh film. Another period piece, possibly set as a prequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, in the late ‘50s on the Californian summertime coast, running amok with wholesome teenagers in their polka dot bikinis and tight, parted haircuts discovering the joys of surfing. Until someone dies in a horrific, mangled, head-on car crash on Highway 1 near Monterrey closing in on dusk, while a lone survivor can only treat the ongoing physical and emotional pain with Afghani heroin. Quentin is going to need a soundtrack for this film, before and after the metal-meets-metal plot twist collision, he should call upon Captain Rico & The Ghost Band.
The southern French trio stand out as a full on, instrumental surf rock band with their debut album, The Forgotten Memory of the Beaches with tracks like ‘Tame the Wave’ and ‘Running in The Wind’. Displaying a tight-knit rhythm section that keeps the adrenaline at a steady pace, this allows our fearless Captain Rico to paint visions of solitude travel on ten-foot ocean swells with tremolo and reverbed guitar line after guitar line. Even though on ‘The Lost Lagoon feels’ the tremolo is dialled in a little too much, it can be offset with the crunchier tone of ‘V8 Interceptor’. The surf rock genre can easily be tied down to the late ‘50s / early ‘60s time period. But this trio isn't fully invested into a throwback as they offer more modern sounds on ‘Giant Turtle’ and ‘The Drunk Snake’, with feels of Californian robot/stoner rock, protruding with angular, syncopated riffs moulding all three together for brief sonically-unified moments.
The album is a cohesive listen, perfect for your drive time commutes, whether in gridlock or cooperative traffic.
7.5/10