Party-Time Surf Rock For Your Pre-Bar-Fight Reveries

Steppin' out for a little while, Dictators Thunderbolt Patterson and Ross the Boss peel paint on this instrumental CD of metallic party rock and the occasional Asian-sounding movie theme. Ross's Les Paul drives the melodies, eschewing vocalists except for the occasional men's chorus going "Hey! Hey! Hey!" and "Olé!" In adherence to '70s classic-rock finery, Thunderboss falls somewhere between the Dictators' own Manifest Destiny without the jokes and Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow with more "Freeway Jam" and no "'Cause We've Ended as Lovers." "King of the Road," for example, furnishes a head-bobbing Patterson rhythm over which are scattered biker power-chord chomps and the type of shredding the likes of which guitar mags are quite fond. But what you'll notice most is the foot-tapping boogie on "Olé" and "Hey," delivered with the vim of that special time at a big cocktail party just before overserve is reached and fisticuffs begin. Ventures fans will be thrilled, and if you liked Bill Holden in The World of Suzie Wong, "Crube Train" and "Thunderbolt Theme" will work. Sounds like much of it's in Cinerama too.