
Ritchie Venus: Sunrise
By Mike Moroney
24 tracks! Wow. This project evolved as a catalogue of Venus’ compositions to date, a third dating as far back as the ’60s, and I can’t decide whether it’s a cult classic or archive material. There’s a paucity of information on the simple cover which is rather frustrating. Some of the vocals are decidedly dodgy and everything except the big surf-sound guitar lacks the sort of balls the songs really deserve. The whole thing warms up considerably with the live band in the later tracks and the guitar sound is great throughout. Michael J Brathwaite has himself been responsible for production and while the songs and instrumentals are, for the most part, good compositions, to engage they need better treatment than this. And yes, you can have too many tracks on an album. Released by Onset Offset, email ritchievenus@paradise.net.nz
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