March Birthdays 
A quick review of my Avengers VI cd, why not? (Actually, because I just happened to be listening to it earlier today and because I don't feel like doing homework for the 30 minutes before I head off to work... so this'll have to be quick.):lol:
Overall I think this is an enjoyable but not great album. Very hit or miss with some big-time hits and some huge misses. I wish these guys recorded more originals because those are the songs that tend to be the most interesting on here--in fact Time Bomb and Heartbeat are two of my all-time favorite 1st wave songs. If nothing else, the cd is worth hearing those two songs, and a cool look at what the B-list surf scene must've sounded like back in the day.
_Heartbeat _is one of the coolest surf tunes out there, plain and simple. The E-F-G-F progression which lasts the entirety of the song could hardly be any more simple, but really proves to be a damn cool groove that never gets boring. Cool guitar lines, and the guitar-tradeoff break is a lot of fun too. Anyone who hasn't heard this song yet should definitely seek this out.
_Downtown _is, well... Downtown. Yeah that old pop song. I guess it's melodic enough to pass as an instrumental, but doesn't really lend itself to a great surf instro. It's happy and cutesy but... meh. I do like the drumming on this track though.
I really like the first five-or-so seconds of Mr. Lucky--false promise of a cool, suave bossa nova-y track that then dissipates and quickly loses its edge. The organ bit borders on muzak to my ear. Nothing offensive, but nothing great either.
Cool drumming again in None But the Brave, which has a kinda restrained optimism about it. A bit delicate, but with cool tones, which I guess are worth mentioning now... I really like the Avengers VI's guitar tone almost throughout. Are they playing Mustangs like I see on the album art? Whatever it is, it sounds pretty cool.
The Avenger's Stomp is another really raucous and really fun track. Cool solos from everyone and high energy all around really carry what's essentially just a jam track, but a damn fine one. It's a real toe-tapper this one is.
Hmmm, I don't really like this version of Slaughter on 10th Avenue. Again, I like the tone, but this version really ignores or abandons aspects of the Ventures' arrangement and instrumentation that are more appealing to my ear.
Pipeline. The classic, played less well than the classic original.
Moving on.
I'm most familiar with the next track "Summer Place" from Jasper Beardly's rendition on the Simpsons. That rendition was funny. This one just sucks. Damn this song is lame. 
These guys's rendition of Peter Gunn is friggin' awesome. I'm debating with myself whether or not this is my favorite surf rendition of this song. Dripping wet punchy reverb and fat dribbling tone, deep whammy dips and general gutsiness abound. This song is badass! 
Time Bomb is definitely my favorite track on the album, and one of my all-time surf-instro faves of the 1st wave and beyond. Pretty simplistic, but it's got a great hook, stellar drumming, and again really cool tone. The melody is kinda dark and sad, but really dramatic--especially for a 1st wave song. This marks some of my favorite use of organ in surf, with keys and guitar switching off lead duties really tastefully. With so much going for it, and clocking in at only 1:45, this is a song worth numerous consecutive listens. Everybody check it out.
Hall of the Mountain King has been done a good handful of times in surf, and this version holds its own. Not my favorite arrangement, but still pretty good, with some cool vibrato on the guitar at times and organ mystery at others. More trading off of lead duties that keeps things interesting and pretty fun throughout.
Coming Home Baby isn't surfy at all. More sax-heavy R n' B type stuff that's pretty chilled out for the most part with a strong hook, but these guys really shoulda stuck more to the surf instros. I like their melodies more than their solos anyways. 
The last song, Sahara is a really interesting specimen. The opening sequence sounds more in the vein of the handful of Indian (as in, Native American)-themed surf songs that were released in the first wave--not so much Middle Eastern, but then breaks right into a cool exotic riff. It has the potential to really bust the song open but... I just wish--wish so bad--that the main melody wasn't just Duke Ellington's Caravan. 
It's not a note-for-note carbon copy, but the plagiarism is pretty obvious. If this section were its own original song I'd be really happy, but instead I always listen to this wishing it would either just sound like Caravan, or do it's own thing entirely. Given these guys' other originals, I know they could have pulled off something interesting to fill the song out.
The song then goes off elsewhere--organ and bass thump out a simple but effectively dramatic rhythm that then busts into--what the hell?--a raging fuzz solo! 
The whole rest of the song is just raging fuzz, and it's fucking awesome. 
The out-of-the-blue rhythm change is killer, and the guitarwork is about as dark as I've heard 1st wave surf get, save maybe some Dick Dale and Fender IV stuff. The thumping finale is awesome and a real cool finishing touch to round out the album. Damn, if it weren't for the Caravan disappointment in the beginning, Sahara could have proved to be one of the all-time 1st wave epics and a big favorite of mine. Unfortunately, it falls just short.
Maybe that song serves as a good metaphor for this whole album: really interesting and oftentimes exceptional original stuff marred by less-than-inspiring incorporation of other people's songs.
Okay, I've overrun my time allotment. Gotta go.
