BAMBI KINO

Bambi Kino

bambi-kino.com

Before they were proven songwriters, the Beatles were the hardest-working cover band on the Reeperbahn, the main drag in Hamburg’s red-light district. Fascinated by this period, Bambi Kino—members of Nada Surf and Guided by Voices, among others—recorded this album at the Indra Club, scene of the not-yet-Fab Four’s first German gig. The disc features tunes the lads would have played in 1960—everything from the old Spanish song “Besame Mucho” to the Chuck Berry burner “I’m Talking About You,” the blueprint for “I Saw Her Standing There.” Bambi doesn’t go for strict historical accuracy—there are no Liverpool accents or amphetamine tempos—but the band rips it up, recreating the pre-Beatlemania mania with aplomb.