Record Review // The Hamiltones "The Shape of Walter"

$5 //
Edition of 300 //
https://thehamiltones.bandcamp.com/album/the-shape-of-walter //

Do you ever feel like you hear a song or an artist and you automatically have this idea in your head of where it might come from even if it really doesn't?  With The Hamiltones, there is this guitar driven instrumental surf rock presence which I like to think of as relating back to some old Hanna Barbera cartoon.  Granted, I watched a lot of cartoons growing up (and still do) but I feel like this could be the soundtrack of some whacky adventures featuring an animated Wolfman, Dracula, Mummy, etc.   It wouldn't be too far off from Scooby-Doo either so I can definitely see it.

I'm not sure when I first heard this type of instrumental guitar-based rock.   I likely heard it much sooner in my life than I remember, for one reason or another, but I feel like when I hear it I still go back to that "Music For Our Mother Ocean" compilation that came out a long while back and just had a great number of artists on it.  I still love that CD and if they're still making them (I know there was a sequel) then I could see The Hamiltones being part of a future compilation along similar lines.

From "Surfing Bird" to "Wipeout" vibes there is a lighter sense to the second song and I'm thinking of Groovie Ghoulies.   The third track somehow becomes much more guitar focused and there is even that Tarantino type of riff in there that I do so enjoy.   The final song is "Without You", which I relate to Air Supply for some reason, and it's just dreamy guitars with big drums and even though it's instrumental the guitar just sings on through and you can really hear it, whether you know the song as an original or not.

Overall this record has three quality singles and a cover, which if you go back to the days of when there first 7" records like this you would typically get the hit single on Side A with a bonus song on Side B, so having these extra songs makes it that much more worth listening to and just the ideas of the the type of music this generates make it fit into that whole scene as well, so, definitely a purchase worth making.