Surfersaurus SUR2024; Australia 2024; 58 min
Here Comes The Sun / Nowhere Man / I’ve Just Seen A Face / Something / Glass Onion / Let It Be / While My Guitar Gently Weeps / Birthday / Come Together / Across The Universe /
All My Loving / Strawberry Fields Forever / Help / Abbey Road /
CD-only bonus tracks: Day Tripper / And I Love Her / She Loves You / A Hard Day’s Night
This is a collection of Beatles songs delivered by Martin Cilia who first experienced the Fab Four in the UK before his move to Australia. Using layers of guitars and some tough sounds Martin really beefs up old favourites Here Comes The Sun, Nowhere Man, All My Loving and She Loves You, kicking new life into them most successfully with some added testosterone.
The Help! album-filler I’ve Just Seen A Face went on to become a live favourite for Wings and here it’s a jolly romp with a slight country flavour, but Something is much more serious with its bitingly expressive harmony lead and underpinning fuzz. When stripped back to an instrumental, the melody of 1968’s Glass Onion bears a distinct similarity to The Doors’ earlier Light My Fire – which makes it a tricky listen.
Martin’s soloing on the bridge of Let It Be lifts it tremendously and While My Guitar Gently Weeps provides just the highlight you might have expected and hoped for as a showcase for his tasteful styling. Come Together is another cracker in a suitably earthly grinding version and there’s one original, the aptly titled proud ballad Abbey Road. Completing this surprisingly satisfying project is a fabulously emotive interpretation of And I Love Her. Great stuff.
Alan Taylor
