Search - Davie Allan & Arrows :: Loud Loose & Savage

In the 1960s and '70s, Davie Allan fused his love of manic, distorted electric-guitar tones with an astute melodic sense to score a beloved, if occasionally motley, collection of low-budget exploitation films. While the hit "Blue's Theme" from The Wild Angels would secure Davie Allan a similar cult status as Dick Dale and "Miserlou," the King of the Fuzz Guitar has yet to enjoy a similar widespread '90s revival (though filmmakers like Jim Jarmusch and Roger Corman have rediscovered the Allan "buzz"). This album (cobbled together from indie sessions spanning the mid '80s and early '90s) more than lives up to its title, showcasing Allan's ferocious sonic tastes as well as an innate musical economy that many stunt-show ax slingers would be wise to emulate. Two of Allan's major influences are composer Henry Mancini and primitive '50s guitar god Link Wray (paid tribute here by the deliciously noisy "Missing Link"), and the guitarist cuts a taught buzz-saw pattern between those polar extremes here. A more recent album, Fuzz Fest, adds a little spit polish to Allan's metallic m.o. and offers up standout versions of Mancini's "Experiment in Terror" and "The Party." --Jerry McCulley