One of the best car releases outside of the usual Brian Wilson, Gary Usher, Jan Berry, and Terry Melcher realm is the Zip-Codes' Mustang!. Although most surf and hot rod outings boasted the fingerprints of at least one of these typical five producers, this album is a studio project spear-headed by Gary Paxton. Obviously, this LP was created either to promote or to take advantage of the buzz surrounding the new Ford Mustang. Musicians included; Buzz Cason, Ron Hicklin, Al Capp, Sonny Curtis, and Leon Russell. Like practically every one of Paxton's other projects (think 'Alley Oop' or 'Monster Mash'), Mustang! doesn't always take itself too seriously and, in addition to a few excellent surf/hot rod moments, makes sure to leave room for some humor along the way. 

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'Fancy Little Filly from Detroit' is a strong opener with a thin falsetto. 'Wild Wild Mustang' is a rocking little car-themed tune complete with a hefty mouthful of auto jargon presumably lifted from Ford promotional material. 'Super Fine 289' is another solid number that could've easily warranted a single release. The first of two instrumentals, 'Red Line', is an impeccably well-crafted surf tune. On the surface, 'Wild Wild Woodie' is innocent enough, though the maniacal 'Surfin-Bird'-like voice makes it difficult to overlook some of the obvious double-entendres that may or may not have been intentionally sprinkled in. 'Dear Mr. Henry Ford' is a hokey spoken-word letter directed to the founder of the Ford Motor Company. It does boast some nice harmonies, though. The album's only single release (written by 'Hey Little Cobra' writer Carol Conners), 'Run Little Mustang', proves to be an enjoyable surf hot rod rocker underneath its' blatant Ford-centric laud. It appears that the songwriters may have begun to run low on Mustang-related material by the time they wrote oddly titled, yet well executed, 'Classy Lotus Chassis'. In fact, the song had previously appeared on the Liverpool, Dragsters, Cycles, and Surfing album with much of the same personnel. 'Speed Shift' details an auto race with a twist ending. Perhaps a loose Ford connection to the ubiquitous 'Three-Window Coupe' was what inspired this Jan & Dean song to be included despite it not having anything to do with Mustangs or Pony-Cars. It, too, appeared on the aforementioned sister album. 'Rally Pack' is the album's second instrumental and would've been a good track if it hadn't been for the terrible twin-kazoo solo. (why??) 'Mustang Rumble' is anything but a 'rumble' and features a spoken conversation between a high-society jock in a new Mustang and a low-brow hillbilly driving a Model A.

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Mustang! is an extremely enjoyable album - especially if you're looking for something outside of the usual sphere of the usual gang of producers.