Album Review:

B. Brock & His Sultans evolved out of a local California ensemble called B. Brock and the Vibratos. Under the former moniker, they released one fantastic surf-rock single, 'Hang Five' b/w 'Fright.' When the British Invasion began in early 1964, many budget labels and bands alike rushed to cash in on the newest craze - much like they had during the surf and hot crazes. Both Crown Records and Bob Brock figured they'd take advantage of the newest trend. What ensued was essentially a surf album with punny Beatles-related titles. Aside from two particularly bad vocal numbers, everything here is extremely surfy.

The less said about the Sultan's rendition of 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' the better. '30 Lb Beetle' is an excellent surf rocker. 'Do the Beetle' is another wild surf instro-burner. 'Mexican Beetle' sounds very much akin to the Mexican-tinged Southern California influences that permeated much of Dave Myers and Lively Ones' output a year earlier. 'My Bonnie' is a second excruciating vocal number. The tune harkens back to the Liverpool Four's Tony Sheridan days (itself having appeared on numerous budget bootlegs) and was likely chosen for its public domain copyright status. 'Fast Beetle' very easily could've been a hot rod rocker, while 'Little Brown Beetle' is an ultra surfy take on 'Little Brown Jug.' Equally familiar is 'The Saints', which is another twangy take on a classic American tune. 'Feed the Beetle' is a cool, wave-drenched jam. The simple 'Beetle Walk' is reminiscent of Dave Myers' and the Surftones' 'Frog Walk Part II' from Hangin' Twenty.

Crown Records took a bunch of rocking surf tunes and disguised them as Beatles numbers. I suspect it would've easily become a collectible summer platter if this had been released under a different title.