“The Next Wave In Surf”

Guitar Player Magazine

"If you prefer your instrumental rock raw and unadorned -- no warbling organ or south-of-the border trumpets -- you'll dig the Neptunes' People of Earth, We Are the Neptunes [Spinout Records]. Bandmates Steve Carter and Tom Walzem each play a doubleneck guitar/bass (Carter wields a Mosrite 6/4, and Walzem plucks a Fender Precision/Stratocaster combo). This instrumentation lets the trio vary their lean, chunky sound more than if separate players handled the guitar and bass.
People of Earth has a plug-and-play garage vibe, and Carter and Walzem pack their parts with tortured, wang-bar chords, growling riffs, whining double-stops, and chugging bass. The tones are unapologetically retro -- you can hear crying speaker cones and almost feel the heat rising from sizzling tubes -- and the music has enough rough edges to remind you that the Neptunes perform together, just like surf bands did in the '60s. Another similarity: The band's tunes are short and thematic (all but one clock in at under three minutes), and primarily uptempo. Nothing avant here, but the music is punchy and real."

Andy Ellis, February 2000