By the time Bikini Beach hit stores, Beatlemania was in full swing, and the surf music fad had already begun its swift decline. As a result, the compositions in this album seem to have been written with more of a commercial objective - blending surf music with other genres in order to appeal to a wider audience. Consequently, Gary Usher and Roger Christian are nowhere to be found on this release (the exception being two Pyramids numbers in the film and not included here). With Jules Styne and Guy Hemric stepping in to fill the void, a new style of music emerged, resulting in 12 watery teen rock numbers that have marginal relation to the beach.
 

As precedented by her first two Beach Party albums, the energetic title song is followed by a slow ballad, this time ‘Because You’re You.’ ‘Love’s A Secret Weapon’ is a high-energy swing, while the dreamy ‘This Time It’s Love’ sounds like it was written in the late ’50s. Both ‘How About That’ and ‘Happy Feeling’ feel a bit contrived, though are enjoyable. While side one carries only the songs from the film, side two has Annette returning to popular dance tunes (much akin to her 1961 album Danceannette. 'The Clive,’ ‘Blame It on the Bossa Nova,’ ‘Jamaican Ska’ ‘Wah-Watusi’ and ‘Let’s Twist Again’ are all extremely great Annette tunes, complete with the classic Disney group conducted by legendary producer Camarata. The record concludes with ‘Monkeys Uncle’ from the sequel of Walt Disney's 1964 film Merlin Jones by the same name. With backing by the Beach Boys (un-credited in this instance) and the Sherman Brothers’ signature lyrics, it is one of the stronger tracks on the album.

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Without any involvement by Gary Usher or Brian Wilson, the music on Bikini Beach isn't as surfy as the first two Beach Party releases. Instead, the album is more of a mish-mash of assembled material. The Styne-Hemeric tunes are a bit weaker than previous releases, but it's still a fun time from everyone’s favorite Disney brunette.