The Vibratos are a brand new instrumental outfit formed mainly for recording purposes, although there's is talk of a handful of selective gigs next year. The Vibratos are Warren Bennett, producer Dick Plant and guests which include Shadows drummer Brian Bennett.

The Vibratos’ goal is to remind us of the golden era of the guitar instrumental, and their fresh arrangements and catchy new compositions do just that. Crisply recorded at Warren's own Sunflower Studios, the lads deliver fourteen great guitar workouts for you to enjoy over and over again. For variety each guitarist takes a turn as lead player and is featured on every other track. For instance, Dick handles the lead duties on tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 & 13 and Warren on the remaining. For me, it’s the best instrumental album this year by far, and with another scheduled for next year, The Vibratos are destined to be around for some time to come – I say amen to that!

1) Rawhide / Gunfight At The OK Corral - As well as being a much sought after engineer and producer, Dick Plant is also a very handy guitarist. This punchy melody which links two classic Western themes is a great opener. In order to get away from the obvious Shadows comparisons, Dick and Warren have employed a wide range of guitars for this album, and that certainly adds to the overall sound. This particular track features Dick on a DeArmond T400 guitar ably supported by Warren on keyboards and Mr. Bennett senior on ‘live’ drums.

2) The Ghost Of Old Compton Street - Affectionately titled as a tribute to the location which housed the famous '2 ii's Coffee Bar'. Instro fans will already be familiar with this tune because Barry Gibson's Local Heroes covered it for the album 'One of Our Shadows Is Missing'. For this version though, Warren is firmly in the driving seat and plays all the instruments himself.

3) Galveston - Glen Campbell scored a Top 20 hit with this catchy Jimmy Webb composition back in 1969, and like another of Webb's songs. Wichita Lineman, it lends itself nicely as an instrumental. Dick on lead again (Gretsch Streamliner & Hohner Baritone 6-string bass) and Warren on keyboards and drum programming.

4) The Ipcress File - John Barry's atmospheric theme from a film starring Michael Caine (aka Harry Palmer) is such a great piece of music and Warren's reading is equally superb. Brian Bennett is on drums and there's some haunting sax courtesy of Dave Bishop (he played on Hank's ‘Into The Light’ album back in 1992) which adds to the suspense.

5) Cala Mondrago - According to Warren, Dick Plant has many a self-penned instrumental up his sleeve and often sends demos to Hank for consideration. This obviously pays dividends because the D. Plant original Steel Wheel found its way onto Hank's ‘Into The Light’ album, and in the days when Dick was recording The Shadows at Honeyhill back in the eighties, the group used his composition Hammerhead, on the ‘Guardian Angel’ album. Cala Mondrago is an uptempo number with Dick wielding his Fender Tele to great effect, he also plays all the other instruments himself.

6) The Persuaders - Warren makes no secret of the fact that he and his dad are keen followers of John Barry's work and this is the second of four JB compositions to grace this album. –The Persuaders' was a swish 1970s television series starring Roger Moore (prior to him receiving his ‘licence to kill’) and American actor Tony Curtis. Although it's little dated now, especially from a fashion point of view, the cult series is often aired on one of the satellite channels. The theme is the perfect vehicle for a guitar-led arrangement (Spotnicks and others have already recorded it) and Warren does it justice on his ‘65 Epiphone Casino. He also submits rhythm, bass. keyboards and drum programming too.

7) Here Comes My Baby - The Tremeloes enjoyed a Top 5 hit with this Cat Stevens song in Feb ‘67, though this particular arrangement owes more to the recent ‘live’ version recorded by The Mavericks. Dick takes the main melody on a sitar with Wan-en supporting on keyboards and ‘live’ drums (he cut his musical teeth, so to speak, as a drummer in his very first band). The transformation from a vocal pop song to an instrumental works exceptionally well.

8) The Knack ....... and how to get it - Another John Barry title (I'm sure he's on commission!) and one that is new to me. A jazzy little thing that clocks in at just under three minutes sees Warren once again on lead, Dave Bishop on alto sax and Brian Bennett with an inspired display of technique on drums. Liked it a lot.

9) Jezebel - Frankie Laine and Herman's Hermits are just two of the artists who have recorded vocal versions of this song. Jezebel is another number that works well instrumentally and Dick's own interpretation is a knockout. Driving electric rhythm reminiscent of Bruce Welch's contribution on the Shads' Quatermasster's Stores keeps it all going and Warren's solid drum support ensures the track maintains the high standard that is already apparent on this release.

10) White Horses - I was re-introduced to this sweet little melody by Joey Dee on his excellent ‘Shadowin' The 60s’ release (see Shadsfax 31); It's one of those tunes I loved as a kid but had completely forgotten about. Hearing Joey's version made me search out the original hit record by 'Jacky'. Other folk not so fortunate to locate Jacky's version had to make do with a dodgy version by none other than Pinky & Perky ........ so ladies & gentlemen let me introduce you to John H. Humphrey, the poor chap who has had to put up with Pinky & Perky's pathetic reading of White Horses for years!

11) On The Wings Of A Nightingale - Like so many others, Warren Bennett has a passion for the music of The Beatles and Paul McCartney (and given the right lighting conditions he even looks like a young Macca) so it’s no surprise to find one of Paul’s compositions here.

The song was recorded by The Everly Brothers around the time of their much publicised reunion and reached No. 40 in the chart in November 1984.

It would appear that Dick is a fan of McCartney’s also because it is he who handles the lead guitar on this pleasant rendition. Warren lends support on keyboards and drums.

12) Joe 90 – Blimey, this melody brings back painful memories from junior school when a handful of little bleeders used to label me Joe 90 because of my spectacles. Little sods, don’t you just hate kids?!!

Barry Grey’s puppet theme features Warren playing all the instruments himself – no strings attached, except on the guitar.

13) The Trucker – A jaunty Dick Plant original that could easily have made it onto either Hank’s ‘Into The Light’ or ‘Heartbeat’ album. It’s just Dick and his Yorkie bar as we hit the road with The Trucker (try to say that fast when you’ve had a drink!!).

14) Dances With Wolves – The final track and Warren closes the album with another John Barry number. Warren offered this arrangement to Hank for the ‘At The Movies’ project but sadly it didn’t make the final selection. The melody would have suited Hank’s style perfectly so with this in mind. Warren used a Fender Stratocaster ‘57 reissue guitar, added plenty of echo and wore a pair of horn-rimmed glasses for this recording.

In a nutshell, I've listened to this CD several times now and I just love it to bits.

It's got everything you could ask for; timeless melodies, great production and a large portion of that all-important guitar. As I said at the beginning of this review, the plan is for one album per year and the boys are already researching material for a follow-up. A little bird tells me that the themes from Midnight Cowboy and Department S are in the running.