Not much is known about these four mutated mosquitos; their lives were as normal as most mosquitos until that fateful day they landed on Three Mile Island. "I knew the moment I tasted their blood that something was wrong--horribly wrong!," B Negativewas rumored to have said thatday. We believe it was that day, that very day, that changed them forever; at least this is what scientists at MIT believe. You see, since that day they've all had this strange desire to play surf music. Before the accident they had never heard of surf! We think something happened during the mutation, something so horrible that they all found a longing for surf music. From what we understand they were warned about the consequences of surf...there is no market for it....it's not really music to most people. They knew they were on a musical road to obscurity. But there was nothing we could do; something, something beyond our power, had taken control of them, and they will forever be known as the Atomic Mosquitos.
"Three albums on, this highly acclaimed Virginia based combo continues to kick out the jams like a swarm of pesky insects buzzing around the heads and bodies of unsuspecting victims. Comprised of fourteen wet and wild instrumentals whose cool titles are just as imaginative as indicated, “Meltdown” deftly incorporates old school surf motifs with snippets of contemporary sounds. Offerings such as “Dark Side Of The Chimps,” “The Villain In The Panama Hat,” “It’s The Mountain Dew Talking” and “Mosquito Royale” slip, slide, crackle and crunch with heavy duty dynamics sculpted of bruising guitars and powerhouse drum fills. Atomic Mosquitos batter their music into submission, causing their instrumentals to turn to shades of black and blue. Flooded with paralyzing melodies and challenging arrangements, “Meltdown” takes surf rock to a whole new level, while at the same time retaining the basic ingredients that made the genre so boss in the first place."
-Beverly Paterson - Lance Monthly
"The Atomic Mosquitos are led by the twin reverb guitars of Joe Marencic and Paul Carson with Stephen Blickenstaff adding theremin touches. Driven along by Sean Rush on bass and Craig Stang's drums they deliver a full-on uptempo surf assault exemplified by their storming take on Khachaturian's Sabre Dance. All of the other titles are group originals and, while their sound and style are clearly surf, they are indeed original pieces. Banzai Fallout is just as big a blast as its title suggests and the momentum is maintained through the mighty opening sequence of The Villain In The Panama Hat, Mosquito Royale with its proud theme, the crashing, splashing Dusty Duty, Hollow Point with its exquisite damped reverb picking and the fast flowing Sno Balls. The menacing Dark Side Of Chimps is a mid-tempo piece that thunders along with incredible power while The Liquidators and the title track are highly charged stinging themes full of emotion.
The Mosquitos have evolved from the echo guitars of their eponymous debut (Pipeline 57) through the reverb/echo combination on Release The Mosquitos! (Pipeline 68) to the revved-up reverb of this third album which I can only describe as monstrous -- in a nice, surfy way of course. It's the most satisfying blast I've heard for ages."
-Alan TaylorPipeline Magazine
Doors 9:30 | Music 10. 21 and up.