Album Review:

The Sandals (or Sandells) were formed in 1962 and consisted of Danny Brawner (drums), brothers Gaston and Walter Georis (rhythm guitar and keyboards), John Blakeley (lead guitar - who makes it very clear on the back cover that ministry is his priority in life) and John Gibson (bass). The group gained a large fan base after it supplied the soundtrack to Bruce Brown's classic "Endless Summer" film. As it turned out, Scrambler! predated the official release of Brown's documentary by almost two years, so upon the film's release, the album was reissued as Endless Summer.   

'Scrambler' is a cool biker instrumental a la mid-1964 and starts off the album strongly, and '6-Pak' follows suit. The rambunctious 'Driftin' sails along while the signature 'Endless Summer' is a nice breath following the uptempo numbers. 'Good Greeves' is a light-hearted organ ditty that is reminiscent of Henry Mancini's 'Baby Elephant Walk'. The ultra-surfy 'Decoy' closes outside one of these releases. 'Out Front' is another inspired instrumental, while 'Wild as the Sea' features a melancholy organ and guitar duet. 'Trailing' is as soft and sweet a surf instrumental as there ever was. 'Jet Black' is marked by some spoken "jet black" interludes, and the subtle 'Lonely Road' is pretty much a rewrite of the main theme. 'TR-6' is another bike-related number, taking its name from the triumph two-wheeler.

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The Sandells' first album is a rare treat. Not only are there plenty of originals, but the music within has become iconic among aficionados of the sport. Whether or not the band would have achieved the same height of popularity if it weren't tied in with the Bruce Brown masterpiece is doubtful, though it is a great little album in its own right.