Huevos Rancheros – Muerte Del Toro
(Mint)

Calgary’s Huevos Rancheros prefer to take their time when writing new material, and it was kind of disappointing to see that they could only manage 10 original tracks and 2 cover songs to follow up 1996’s 7 song Get Outta Dodge EP. After hearing the actual songs on the album however, my disappointment was completely forgotten. Huevos Rancheros are all about quality, not quantity.

Huevos Rancheros mix catchy surf melodies with a thick, powerful, rock and roll edge and an exotic mexican flavour. This time around Huevos decided to also add piano and organs to some of the tracks (courtesy of Pat McGannon) although this serves as more of an atmospheric touch, rather than an additional instrument. The guitar sounds a little more produced this time around, but guitarist Brent Cooper still manages to coax from it throbbing waves of fuzz and reverb in that Link Wray style.

The album gets off to a great start with a rockin’ cover of Diamond Head, followed by the song Beach Blanket Blackout, which previously appeared on the Del-Fi Surf Monsters compilation. The high point of the album however, comes during the 3 songs right smack in the middle of the track listing: the mellow yet melodic Ride, Cowboy, the galloping Wild Turkey Surprise, and then the double picking perfection of Trouble A Brewin’.

At times I am tempted to say that some of the songs are mediocre, and patched together only to stretch the album into a full length project. Upon closer inspection however, each song can hold its own. Although some tracks overshadow others, I don’t think Muerte Del Toro has any real weaknesses. As far as I’m concerned, they can keep writing songs at any pace they want, as long as they keep writing songs that are of this calibre. — Sean

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