Apache

iTunes Review

If not for the exaggerated and upfront production, 1990’s Apache might have sounded as timeless as any of Link Wray’s early recordings. Lucky for Wray, Bruce Brand handled not only rhythm guitar duties, but rhythm in general – a multi-instrumentalist who has played with Thee Milkshakes, Thee Headcoats/Thee Headcoatees and Holly Golightly (amongst others), Brand plays bass and drums here as well as piano and harmonica, giving Wray plenty of room to stretch out starting with “The Wild One” — an original inspired by the classic 1953 biker film starring Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin, Wray somehow approximates a motorcycle engine’s growl with his guitar before bending strings and strumming those heavily reverberated tremolos associated with his signature sound. Things simmer down on the sweltering “Dallas Blues” updating Luther Dixon and Al Smith’s “Big Boss Man” with fiery fret-board freak-outs and some soulful singing. Though it was composed by Jerry Lordan, the minor-key-laden title-track was inspired by Wray’s own Native American ancestry and performed here with a palpable parley between guitar and drums that upstages the Shadows’ 1960 hit version.