Album Review:

For their third album, the Lively Ones decided to take Jan & Dean's massive number 1 hit and recreate it in their own style. 

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An instrumental cover of 'Surf City' is a mediocre cover of the Jan and Dean original and while cleanly executed, the saxophone duet is no match for Jan Berry's vocal arrangements in the hit version. 'Telstar Surf'  finds the group on some sturdier ground. 'Head's Up' is one of the best tracks in the group's catalog. 'Malibu Run' is a bit of a snooze-fest and features a lonely tenor sax over top of the tranquil sounds of rolling waves (or drums). Borrowed from the band's first album, both 'Miserlou' and 'Surf Rider' appear here. Following two retreads, the creative guitar picking in 'Soul Surfer' seems especially original. Of course, it makes sense that Santo and Johnny's 'Sleep Walk' would find its way into at least one instrumental surfing album. The quixotic rock standard lends itself perfectly to the genre. The guitars in 'Crazy Surf' could've used a little more tuning, while 'Livin' is a blatant ripoff of 'Riot in Cell Block 9'. A long two-and-a-half octave slide opens the atmospheric 'Tranquilizer;' a splendid Dick Dale-influenced rocker. Closing out the album is yet another repeat from the Surf Rider album, 'Forty Miles of Bad Road' (this time titled 'Forty Miles of Bad Surf').

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Del-Fi Records was certainly not opposed to recycling old Lively Ones tunes and repeating them in order to fill space. In fact, 'Surf Rider' - the very track which elevated their stardom - was in itself a cover of the Ventures 'Spudnik.' Unfortunately, their resourcefulness doesn't help this album much. There are some great moments ('Soul Surfer,' 'Tranquilizer,' and 'Heads Up'), but the repurposed songs hold Surf City back from being the full and cohesive album it deserved to be.