Review: 'Surf-Age Nuggets: Trash & Twang Instrumentals'

I love The Beach Boys, but they never were a true surf band. They sang about catching waves and driving woodies because they just needed something to sing about, and really, surf music wasn't made for singers, even ones with voices as heavenly as The Beach Boys. Surf music was supposed to be something rougher, darker, more on the same wavelength as the actual sport, which is pretty dangerous. 

So you shouldn't expect sunny Brian Wilson—let alone goofy Jan and Dean—harmonies when diving into a collection like Surf-Age Nuggets: Trash & Twang Instrumentals. Like a legit Nuggets compilation, RockBeat Records' set aimed to convey the rougher underbelly of its subgenre. The Shan-Tones pound tom toms on "Sheba"like a bushy, bushy blond head pounding the rocks after a wipe out. The Velvetones wield guitar strings like switchblades on "Doheny Run". The screaming, rough-and-tumble "Don't Call Me Fly Face" implies what will happen if you do, indeed, insult The Reekers by calling them Fly Face. Even the band's name is nasty!