A real what-the-fuck release Relapse dropped on us in 2016 that made me do a double take. Joel Grind is the crossover king, his band Toxic Holocaust turning into one of the biggest thrash outfits of the past decade. The guy is a riff-machine, making his albums pretty consistent in terms of ripping, circle-pit power. But this EP pairs Grind with an artist who couldn’t be further from the crossover thrash spectrum: the A-side of this thing features the legendary Davie Allan of all people. One of the original pioneers of surf rock, Allan and his backing band The Arrows were a constant presence in 1960s-era exploitation films about juvenile delinquents and troublesome biker gangs, many of them produced by Roger Corman's legendary American International Pictures. From 1966's The Wild Angels and 67's The Born Losers to the "mondo-teeno" documentary Teenage Rebellion, Allan and the Arrows were all over the place, and their version of the song "Apache '65" is one of the all-time surf / rockabilly classics. His cranked-up fuzzed-out distortion sound has been cited as a proto-punk element, and if you do a dive into his work over the years, it's pretty apparent that Allan has been an extremely influential figure in the evolution of rock and roll here in the U.S. So what's he doing on this platter with thrash-master Joel Grind?

Laying down some sweet, sweet instrumental aggro surf rock, is what. As does Grind. A showcase of two accomplished guitarists going to town on the classic psych / surf sound, with two original songs from each. It's fuzzbox city, man. Davie Allan rips out "Recycled Too" and "Buzz Saw Effect", ancient motorcycles revving up as he delivers some seriously distorted licks slathered in vintage distortion over a heavy rock backbeat. That crunchy tone of his cuts right through the speakers, and both of these songs are built on massive grooves; Allan's playing and songwriting actually sounds totally contemporary, which speaks to how influential he's been on the entire history of hard rock. "Buzz Saw" couldn't have been titles better; the bouncy, bluesy backing riff snarls at you while he's picking out that infectious lead. It's awesome. I only wish that there was more. The Joel Grind side then counters with “Peacekeeper" and “The Invisible Landscape", his own metallic crunch fueling the driving instrumental of the first song as he blends in some mutant acid-garage licks with a rhythm section straight out of early 80's heavy metal. But "Landscape" is weirder, welding that old-school heavy metal crunch to some straight-up surfy licks, with washes of wild wah-pedal whirling around everything. It's amazing, like hearing British Steel-era Priest playing a Ventures tune? I don't know. I just know that this kills.

A brief but blazing blast of heavy biker-psych rock bliss! This shit makes me want to jump on a 1969 Easy Rider Chopper and turn into a werewolf. Comes with a digital download.