Swami John Reis

★★★★ Ride The Wild Night SWAMI. LP

San Diego garage-punker goes solo (assisted by rockin’ new band).

Ever fullblooded in his pursuit of unreconstructed ramalama under copious aliases (Rocket From The Crypt, Hot Snakes, Night Marchers etc), beloved ‘Speedo’ can be relied upon to swerve lame introspective singer-songwriting. On this first properly solobilled outing, however, a little space is cleared amidst the blammo electric guitars for some rattling acoustics; these perhaps lift RTWN from the filthier corners of his garage milieu to somewhere a shade more salubrious, yet only heighten his music’s perennial sensation of juggernaut momentum. This textural addition also strongly connects When I Kicked Him In The Face and the title track to what Reis calls “pre-Vietnam War rock’n’roll” (NB: US military involvement kicked in circa 1964!), as do bonus splashes of piano bass-riffin’ (I Ain’t Your Pawn) and outright boogie-woogie (Days Of Auld Lang Syne). With almighty Who-ish swagger, I Hate My Neighbours In The Yellow House is a career-best misanthropist’s anthem.