Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email

2014 August 20 • Wednesday

Here's a record I saw at the Comic-con. The asking price was $75 so I opted to get a CD reissue when I got home.

The idea, I guess, was to have a surf instrumental record equivalent to the Monster Mash album. There was never a band called The Deadly Ones, as far as I know. What we have here is a gathering of studio musicians enlisted to help Vee-Jay Records make a quick buck.

Some of the songs have goofy spoken intros or break-ins, heavily reverbed and camp. The music itself is quite good but lacks the charm and sincerity of many of surf records made by teenage bands with more ambition than acumen.

"The Mad Drummer" has an appealing wistfulness to it that's almost buried by the cheery arrangement. "The Moonlight Surfer" has an almost "Telstar"-like grandeur. "The Lone Surfer" is an appealing "Baja"-like tune with some cool sound effects.

"Raunchy" and "Rebel Rouser" don't fit in with the monster theme but were perhaps added to snare some Duane Eddy fans.