After a string of hot-rod albums, the Del-Tones returned to their surfing roots with 1964's Summer Surf. With the addition of a trombone and Dale’s trumpet, along with some top-notch West-coast production, the album is distinct from any other of the artist’s releases.

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The eponymous opening track is a sax-driven instrumental that conjures up feelings of warm summer nights, sand, and surf and finds Dale in familiar territory. A characterless cover of Chuck Willis’ ‘I Feel Good,’ goes nowhere. The Leiber-Stoller, ‘Surfin',' follows suit. A flamenco-influenced ‘Spanish Kiss’ shows off Dale’s musical prowess, as does ‘The Star (of David),’ a Hebrew tune. The ‘Pipeline’-influenced, ‘Banzai Washout’ turns out to be an album highlight, and the gospel-influenced ‘Glory Wave’ is just amusing enough to merit a smile if even just for its bizarre premise. Steve Douglas’ ‘Surfin’ Rebel’ features a prominent trombone. ‘Never on a Sunday,' though an odd choice for a surf release finally features Dale’s proficiency (?) on another instrument than guitar - the trumpet. The Connors-Barri composition, ‘Mama’s Gone Surfin’’ is fruitless, while both ‘Tidal Wave’ and ‘Thunder Wave’ offer a strong closing to the album

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While the universally hailed  ‘King of Surf Guitar’ had taken a bit of a car detour in his previous albums, his fifth (and penultimate) album for Capitol Records is undoubtedly the most polished. While not entirely quintessential, it is, nevertheless, of worth to those fans who want to get a little deeper than the surface….