All those awesome teensploitation and biker-a-go-go B-movies from the mid- and late '60s just wouldn’t have been the same without Davie Allan & The Arrows’ instrumental scores. From the opening title track, Cycle Delic Sounds puts the listener on the back of a custom chopper and throttles through 10 amazing instrumentals that perfectly capture the danger, excitement, and ridiculous fun of those old flicks. But what this album also uncovers is that Allan was responsible for fusing the reverb-soaked twang of surf rock with the psychedelic snarl of biker culture. The opening bass leads and fuzzed-out, face-melting, wah-wah of Allan’s guitar in “Cycle-Delic” are equally indebted to Grand Funk Railroad and Jimi Hendrix as they are to Dick Dale and The Ventures. Armed with a Mosrite Fuzzrite (the holy grail of fuzzboxes), Allan approximates a hornet buzzing around your helmet in the following “Invasion.” And by bending strings while simultaneously working a volume pedal, he mimics the sound of motorcycles jamming at top speeds. The standout tune “Grog’s Hog” finds The Arrows pumping out a heavy groove alongside Allan’s lysergic leads.
- 1967
- 1965
- Sky Saxon & The Seeds
- Thee Mighty Caesars
- The Standells