SIDE 1
1 “WALK ON”
Album opener gives no hint of what’s to come. A jaunty, funky affair, with some satisfyingly supple rhythm playing from Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina…
MATT VALENTINE, MV&EE/WET TUNA: “I grew up listening to On The Beach, it was bigger than M*A*S*H in my house. One summer when I was workin’ and on ladders all the time, there was a New York station that would play album sides. They jammed Rust Never Sleeps often when it came out and I immediately bought the ‘Out Of The Blue’ 45. My parents said, ‘Y’know, that’s the same artist as On The Beach.’ I took On The Beach to my room and listened on headphones all night long. I bet it all on that record.
“‘Walk On’ is not what most folks think of when they rap about the On The Beach experience. For me, it is a sweet choice to open side A. I think of it as spectrasound. Open your mind, expand the range. It resides on an altered plane – almost 4th dimensional – especially in comparison to the rest of the record, but it gives it an arc.
“The syncopated riff goes so deep, such a unique energy swagger, it’s definitely one of his more ‘involved’ arrangements. The Horse give ‘Walk On’ another phase within these stages.
“My family took long day trips to Jones Beach. Leave at dawn, pack a vibe. It’s a sonic odyssey, a bit stony and a big bite of mood. It’s what I think of when I think of ‘Neil’.”
