Strictly Instrumental Vol. 2 (CD)

The second volume of Buffalo Bop's rock 'n roll instrumental series is close in quality to its predecessors, although a few outfits, such as the Rockin' Continentals ("2-3-4") overstay their welcome by 45 seconds or so. The Sounds ("Bedlam") demonstrate a rich virtuosity on their guitars, while Lord Dent & His Invaders mix guitars and saxes to go effect on "Wolf Call," and The Casuals combine piano and rhythm guitar. "The Viking Twist" may sound like a dumb title, especially coming from a band called The Vi-Kings, but it does move, and has some very animated saxohone. "Roulette Rock" by the Variatones starts off dangerously similar to "Kansas City," but then stakes out some fresh territory. The Dawnbreakers' "Deep In The Heart of Texas Rock" does, indeed, set the stage and audience afire, while the Daywins' "Heartbeat" experiments with guitar voices in several registers and timbres. The Galaxis' "Ad Lip" should've been movie music, which is not a put down-it's just dramatic and well paced. "Do The Fly" by the Rovin' Gamblers isn't quite an instrumental, what with its brief vocals and shouts, but it is loud, raunchy fun. "Hot Wire" by the Crew is another piece of lost movie music, vaguely reminiscent of the Beau Brummels' instrumental version of "Woman" but a tighter feel. And "Chicken Rock" by Fat Daddy Holmes is simply out of this world, a breakneck-paced workout on guitars, bass and drums that defies gravity. "The Rise" by the St. John's Cardinals is pretty much a quicker-paced, partly rewritten version of "Apache." Surprisingly, "Speed Zone " by the Impacts is the first track on either of these volumes to use car (or, in this case, motorcycle engine sounds) as an intro-what follows is a more than fair musical representation of the resulting motion. The sound is generally good, although it is a little bass-y at times, reflecting the occasional use of less than perfect tape sources. ~ Bruce Eder