Fez
World Domination on $3 a Day
Crazy Owl
Sometimes too much musical diversity can be a bad thing. Take those compilation CDs that we all have that throw together: a bunch of random singles with no flow, no feel, no connection. Movie soundtracks tend to be especially bad in this regard, putting the likes of Limp Bizkit next to someone like Ivy. Unless it’s a mix tape with specific songs that have been carefully hand-selected by someone you know, most of the time these compilations collect dust, because listening to them in one sitting is damn near impossible.
That brings us to the instrumental group Fez. Now, I can’t say that Fez is bad from a technical perspective. They weave together surf, pop, lounge, rockabilly, rock, funk, and jam music with a rather high degree of musical ability. There’s Dick Dale one minute, Stray Cats the next, and the Coctails the very next. That takes some serious skill to jump from genre to genre so often. But there is something about the way that Fez sometimes attempts to weave a number of these styles into the same song that leaves me irritated and frustrated. It might not be that way if I hadn’t reviewed the Euro Boys a few years ago and thought that they did with near perfection what Fez attempts to do with World Domination on $3 a Day.
There are some songs that stand out here, such as “Thunder Swing,” “Caravan,” “Pipeline,” and “Beach Ball,” a funny little surf number that almost fits Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello at times. If Fez perhaps tried to not do quite so much musically, the album would be a much more enjoyable experience. But as it is, World Domination on $3 a Day leaves a bit to be desired as a cohesive album.
