For a while, the Angels were one of the top proprietors of the '60's girl group sound. Having had a #1 hit with "My Boyfriend's Back" in 1963, the group also had some chart success with"Till" (#14, 1961), "I Adore Him" (#25), "Wow, Wow Wee (He's the Boy For Me)" (#41, 1964), and Cry Baby Cry (#38, 1962). While most other girl groups of the time sang sweetly over percussive instrumentation, the Angels' set themselves apart from the rest by performing heavier instrumentation under edgier (and sometimes just plain shredded) vocals. If you were wondering what the Angels' final album has to do with hot rods and surfing, allow me to explain. Firstly the album has a great lost surf number, "(You Can't Take) My Boyfriend's Woody" as well as a massively infectious version of "Louie Louie" which was quite a staple in live performances of most surf acts. The album also possesses a rare Jan Berry-Art Kornfield composition/production, "I Adore Him" which, in my opinion, is enough in itself to warrant a place in any collection.

 

​The album begins with a spoken word intro into "Wow, Wow, Wee" much in the same vein as "My Boyfriend's Back", which is a great brass-laden number in the iconic girl group style. "Java" is an updated version of Al Hirt's signature tune. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" will certainly be of interest to Fab Four fans. The surprisingly good version of "Louie Louie" is one of the best tracks on the album. The Angels even duplicate the Kingsmen's (now iconic) false re-entry after the instrumental break. "(You Can't Take) My Boyfriend's Woody" is a fantastic lost artifact of the genre which could've easily been a Honeys release. "(He Is) The Kissing Kind" is a bouncy track that could've warranted a single release. Side two opens up with a Jan Berry written and produced "I Adore Him" - lavishly produced featuring an opening riff that would later be recycled into Jan and Dean's "I Found A Girl". "Little Beatle Boy" is a sappy love letter to the British foursome which probably would've been addressed to the five boys from Hawthorne if it had been released the previous year. "Snowflakes and Teardrops" shows a more tender side of the band. Similarly, both "Guess the Boy Don't Love Me Anymore," and "By the Time You Read This Letter" are more akin to the standard 60s girl-group fare. The sleepy "Dream Boy" features a heavy fuzz guitar solo (something that wouldn't become popular in love ballads until the '70s) closing out the album on a much different note than what it started on.

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While not entirely surf-related, the Angels' A Halo to You features some excellent 1960's pop material with a few surf-ier moments thrown in for good measure.