Penetration: Best of
Format: import
Release Date: 26-06-1995
Details: Amazon.ca Long Beach, California's Pyramids were famous for their shaved heads and their early '64 surf instrumental hit, "Penetration." An admitted knockoff of the Chantays' brilliant "Pipeline," it's a memorable tune in its own right. The album it spawned has been expanded to include everything the band released plus a couple of bonus tracks. This amounts largely to a clump of fraternity-band vocal standards ("Walkin' the Dog," "Louie Louie," L.A. favorite "Koko Joe"--written by Sonny Bono--and the novelty "Long Tall Texan," later recorded by both the Beach Boys and Lyle Lovett), and surf instrumentals of varying quality (the supercharged "Road Runnah" and "Midnight Run," along with "Penetration" variations "Contact" and "Pressure," being the highlights). A couple of slightly unusual cover choices (Round Robin's L.A.-specific dance hit "Do the Slauson" and Tommy Roe's "Everybody," easily convertible to surf thanks to an underlying throbbing pulse) stand out. But aside from the hit, the most appealing songs are the vocal hotrod tunes "Custom Caravan" and the previously unreleased, guitar-laden "Record Run," plus the bizarre and uncharacteristic "Here Comes Marsha," a charming hybrid of Mary Wells and primitive garage pop with Jimmy "Handy Man" Jones-style falsetto runs. --Ken Barnes
UPC: 090771102324
EAN: 0090771102324
Binding: audioCD
Item Condition: UsedVeryGood