Nina Coyote eta Chico Tornado

After being knocked out by this cat & kitten at the Huntridge Tavern last Friday, I made sure to get one of

their CDs before they left the States to return to their home in the Basque Country of Spain. This two-piece combo packed the power of a band twice their size as they blasted through their 70's styled riff-rock. While the gig really made these songs come alive, this CD is a great souvenir to rock out to!

Although they are simply a guitar/drum duo, guitarist Koldo augments his tone with an octave splitter running through a bass amp as well as guitar amp, which fills out the sound well. Ursula is a wild and awesome basher, which her small stature would never give away, and they create a monstrous, metallic sound between the two of them!

As I said in the live review, there are hints of Monster Magnet, Black Sabbath, Thee Hypnotics, metal, grunge, 60's garage and damn near anything else they could think of thrown in. While the first few numbers here - "Monster", "Lainda" and "Caballo Loco" (all sung in their native language) - sound pretty heavy-metal-ish, by the time they get to "Txaman" and the instrumental "Desert Tornado", the riffs sound a bit more Detroit punk'n'roll - though you'll still be banging your head! Amazingly, they manage to make the iconic Stooges song "Gimme Danger" their own (without losing the original coolness) with an original arrangement and then they slow things down a bit for the dark and broody instro, "Little Coyote eta Morning Star".

The rev things right up again for the Motorhead-styled madness of "Zaurirk Ez" and then go into a metal/hip-hop hybrid in "Ulehertu", where it sounds like the only words are Ursula yelling "fuck the police!" "Garaitezin" is a drivin', somewhat more melodic number (still with plenty of snaking riffs) while "Izardust" sees the band playing with an echo effect (not unlike "FX" from Sabbath's Volume 4) and then we have another cymbal-smashing, grungey instrumental in "Stuka" before the super-catchy progression that makes up "Hotsa".

If these two ever come back to the States, make sure you see them as they are a a blast live! In the meantime, try to find this rockin' record!