On their first release of 1966, the Challengers kept up with shifting musical trends while still sprinkling a few bona-fide surf tracks in between contemporary covers.

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A cover of Paul Revere and the Raiders 'Kicks' ahem...kicks off the album and demonstrates just how far the band's sound had evolved as it features many mid-60s strokes. 'Sloop John B' shares more in common with the Dick Dale version than the Beach Boys' version, which would have been the most recent at the time. The first surf-related tune, 'Crestline', is a cool number though it only marginally harkens back to the band's roots and kind of feels like 60s filler. The secret agent tune, 'I Spy,' was probably like an outtake from the band's Man from U.N.C.L.E. album the previous year. Herb Alpert's sappy 'What Now My Love' gets a garage makeover but goes nowhere. A cover of the Knickerbockers' 'One Track Mind' rocks pretty hard, and the obligatory inclusion of 'Louie Louie' is just about the finest cover of the overplayed rock staple. The second surf track, 'Balboa', is an excellent piece of surf pop and kind of gives some insight into what the genre might have sounded if the fad had continued for a few more years. The bridge on this is conspicuously similar to that of Jan & Deans's 'Ride the Wild Surf.' Similar to 'I Spy,' 'Our Man Flint' also sounds like something left off their spy-themed album from 1965. 'Shakin' All Over' is another slice of surf twang a la 1966, and 'North Beach' could've easily appeared on any of their 1963/64 albums. An epic cover of Van Morrison's 'Gloria' finishes up the Lp.

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California Kicks is a unique album that's split between mid-60s pop and early-60s surf music though the few added surf tunes are really what make this release stand out from others in the same vein.