Legato Vipers: LV

If you live outside of Canada, you might not know of Canada’s surf rock scene. Well, I think it’s a pretty small one, but if you’ve ever heard the opening credit theme music to The Kids in the Hall, that’s a Canadian surf rock band, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, playing. So, yes, despite not having the big waves that California or Hawaii has, there are surf rock outfits in Canada, of which Legato Vipers, an instrumental outfit, is one. LV is their debut full-length record, following an EP which was produced by Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet’s Don Pyle, and even though there are 13 songs on it, it is less than a half an hour in length. Impressively, Legato Vipers boasts members that come from other groups: guitarist Mike Brooks has played with Bry Webb and the Providers, and Gregory Pepper and His Problems; other guitarist Jordan Howard is a member of the Skeletones Four and the Jim Guthrie Band; bassist Tyler Belluz is from Del Bel and Chrome and the Ice Queen; and drummer Jay Anderson pounds the skins for Biblical, Maylee Todd, and the Sandro Perri Band.

Despite the fact that LV was recorded live on half-inch reel-to-reel tape in Guelph, Ontario, the sound is crisp and ferocious. There are some cheeky nods to pop culture: “Spy Vs. Spy” will have you racing for your Mad magazines, and “Don’t Fear The Cab Driver Mr. Reaper” pokes a bit of fun at Blue Öyster Cult. The thing is that instrumental surf rock might be best left in the 1960s, no matter how fun and competent it is. If you’ve heard one track of this nature, in some respects you’ve heard ‘em all. Thus, over the course of 13 variations on the same thing, the sound can be a bit wearying and the album can feel much longer than it actually is. There’s nothing here that really reinvents the genre. Still, LV is certainly reverential and energetic, and those who like to put a piece of wood into the ocean might get much more out of this than I did. And you can’t help but be, urm, “swept away” by Legato Vipers’ style. If Quentin Tarantino ever needed another surf rock number to score an opening credit sequence, I’ve got just the band for him. LV, despite its fall release date, will definitely wanna make you Hang Ten, no matter where in the world you are.