** REVIEWS **
Little Steven's Underground Garage
"Evan's record is fantastic. We'll play the fuck out of it."
- Little Steven

AMG / All Music Guide (4 out of 5 Stars!)
A side project from his full-time job as singer / guitarist / songwriter for garage punk revivalists the Boss Martians, Evan Foster's debut solo release is a textbook example of instrumental roots rock & roll six-string slinging. Heavily influenced by surf in general and Dick Dale in particular — especially on the raging "Glass Packed & Fully Stacked" — there are also more atmospheric moments to offset the rockers that dominate this set. "Venice, Late Night" is a dusky, low-key piece that incorporates elements of jazz and Spaghetti Western-style reverb, as does the lazy, windswept "Embrujada." As their titles indicate, both "Mouthbreather" and "Meanstreak" are more directly rock-oriented. The latter is a tribute to Rory Gallagher, whose terse, tensile style also influenced Foster's frills-free approach. No instrumental guitar album would be complete without a Ventures tribute, and "Slidin'" fills the bill. "Spy on Me" adds cheap keyboards to the mix and sounds like the soundtrack to a grade B, 1960's James Bond rip-off flick. Foster also handles bass overdubs, but some tracks don't even utilize the instrument, and with all the frantic riffing it isn't missed. Dave Davies' "All Day and All of the Night" lick gets a workout on the opening to "Where Do I Stand" but the tune then transforms into a raging rocker. Foster blasts off into sci-fi territory on the spacey "Sequence Array" and "I.D. Crisis," two of three four-track demos that sound only slightly more raw than the rest of the disc. There is even one (negligible) vocal as Foster repeatedly shouts out the title line to "I Want Some Sex" between Link Wray-styled power chords. A minor complaint is that although Foster is a remarkable stylist, he doesn't have a sound of his own, preferring to raid the technique books of those guitarists who have walked before him. Regardless, this is a terrific and wonderfully played album, that shows Foster to be a talented, even electrifying musician, with more than one trick up his sleeve. Hal Horowitz

Crooked Camera
"Evan Foster is the guitarist/singer for Seattle’s “Boss Martians”. He commits this furious instrumental record for our listening pleasure. Each track is blazing with guitar fury and drummed fervor, it spans 20 tracks in just over an hour and no genre is left unscathed. Evan Foster is up there among some of my modern guitar greats, if not surpassing them in flexibility, my arm and fingers get cramps just listening to this. There are obvious comparisons to Dick Dale, or The Blue Stingrays, and maybe even some of The Monks. At any point Evan throws in lots of variety (garage-punk, proto, synth-rock, art-rock, etc) but not too much to warrant the listener from losing interest, it keeps you tuned for the entire hour. Fans of any type of guitar rock can and will appreciate this type of record. Recommended."

Garage & Beat Magazine
"I have been a huge fan of Evan Foster ever since I heard the first Boss Martians album. Evan's guitar work and songwriting has always been on a par with all my other heroes. An Evan Foster instrumental album? I want one!" Edwin Letcher

Slug Magazine
Evan Foster = Los Straightjackets + The Ventures + The 5,6,7,8’s + Dexter Romweber.

For those wondering, Foster is the incredibly talented lead singer and guitar player for the Boss Martians. Before the Boss Martians took a swing at garage, they had started out as a surf band. Apparently, Mister Foster still has one foot still in the surf music territory. The sheer guitar aptitude that is showcased on Instrumentals is jaw dropping to say the least. Tracks like “Venice, Late Night” lift listeners up with atmospheric, clean chords and sultry rhythms. “Hearse Full of Souls” rips with eerie guitar that will gain approval from Tiger Army fans. “Glass Packed & Fully Stacked” would make Dick Dale listeners grab their surf boards in masse. Don’t get the impression that Foster is only doing surf songs, though. Garage instrumentals “Drag the Dragon” and “Mouthbreather” tell their own stories without lyrics. The new Kevlar7 theme song “I Want Some Sex” is worth the price of the disc. Kevlar7

Music-Sites.Net
You always hear in a write up prior to a release something like this- “This is destined to be a classic!” I have said it myself. Well, I have to say that cliché does apply to the new Evan Foster album Instrumentals. Mr. Boss Martian himself has released a striking group of tracks for all of you instrumental heads to enjoy.

I do not think there has been a time when I have heard this young man play when I did not feel completely blown away by his talent. He does everything-guitars, keys, percussion, vocals; he defines the word one-man band. I have mentioned the fact on the two previous Boss Martian albums that Foster was getting further and further away from his instrumental and surf roots, so I am very pleased to see him reach back and come up with modern fresh rock instrumental treat like this. He constructs the perfect blend of traditional and modern surf and rock. There is no skimping on content here either; you get 20 tracks of bursting rock ‘n’ roll force in succession. The bonus track “Want Some Sex” is the only track with a vocal. Foster says the same thing repeatedly throughout the song-“I want some sex,” at least he knows what he wants! One of the coolest tracks is “I.D. Crisis,” it creates imagery of a science fiction thriller with UFOs and government agencies chasing a lost soul.

To say that Foster is able to form atmospheres and images in your head with only instruments would be an understatement. That is the reason why he is so good at what he does. This dude has all the weapons and he uses them quite effectively. Check out this release, it is a real scorcher for a hot summer day. Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck

Cosmik Debris
Cool surf cats know that Evan Foster is one of the top guitarists of instrumental surf music's 3rd wave, which started in earnest when Pulp Fiction hit theaters and is still going today, though it seems to have shaken out to just the cream of the crop. Boss Martians, Evan's long-time band, are still alive and well and going on a tour of Europe in support of their excellent new album, The Set-Up. Evan also has about 400 other projects going at all times, simply because the guy loves to play. The more things he has going on, the more playing time he gets. Apparently there was a spare day or three in the schedule, because Evan Foster made a solo record. With Dusty Watson (drums) and Nick Contento (organ) on board, Evan (guitar/bass) did himself proud.

The more you know about Evan's musical tastes, the more surprised you'll be that this album isn't a mish-mash of surf, blues, funk, jazz and everything else he could cram onto one CD. No, for this one, he went back to what he's best known for and played instrumentals. Even named the album Instrumentals. It's not all surf, though there are certainly some nasty waves breaking on a handful of these tracks. Some are just rock and roll - hard, loud and proud. "Meanstreak" is an asskicker with thundering bass and drums and hot playing on both rhythm and lead guitar from Evan. It's interesting all the way through. The second track on the album, "Drag The Dragon," could have been its equal but lacked the lead work, leaving it sounding like a damned good start just waiting for the vocal tracks to make it a song. It's the only miscue on the album. The rest is just what you want from an instro album: slammin' ("Where do I stand?"), haunting ("Rattlesnake"), quirky ("Spy On Me"), and as wild and chaotic as riding the best wave of the day at Mavericks ("Surfer's Anthem").

With a guy like Evan, who probably has the majority of input in most of his musical projects, the notion of a "solo album," especially one featuring the only other long-term member of Boss Martians, Nick Contento, may be a little odd. Or maybe the premise is "there are no expectations, no parameters to stay within," other than the one he gave himself, which is that the songs would be instrumentals. Even that one is stretched a bit by the Hesch-like shouts of the title in "I Want Some Sex." Hmmm... Maybe he's just having a lot of fun. That's what I had listening to the CD, anyway. © 2004 - DJ Johnson

Reverb Central
"Heavy surf thunder, exceptionally fine double pick rages, and no shortage of energy. The heavy rhythm below the fire in the lead are a perfect combination. This is what I like in Evan Foster's repertoire - he's very capable of real fury in surf when he wants to deliver it. Excellent!" Phil Dirt