Album Review:

The Super Stocks’ second album, Surf Route 101 is noticeably more polished than their first. Gone are the days of car engine overdubs, filler instrumentals, and growling saxes. While their initial album was firmly situated in the hot rod world, their second album shifts its focus over to surfing; and with more instrumentals than vocal numbers, it’s easily musically the most diverse of all the band's records.

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The album kicks off with ‘Surf Route 101,’ an inspired track with descending modulations following each chorus. ‘Muscle Beach Party’ had been heard in the film of the same name, and rather than rerecording the entire thing, Gary utilized the original backing track and overdubbed new vocals over it. ‘Ventura’ is a strong instrumental, while ‘Santa Barbara’ boasts some exquisite guitar work. The third instruments-only track in a row, ‘Redondo Beach’ turns out to be the essential surf instrumental, with chugging guitars, plenty of stops, and a solid drum beat underneath it all. The vocal ‘Surfin’ Scene’ is another fine number with a lead handled well by Gary. ‘Balboa Beach’ is reminiscent of ‘T-Roadster’ with its ratchet percussion, while ‘Oceanside’ is another fantastic instrumental with a catchy hook. A curious Brian Wilson track ‘My First Love’ somehow managed to creep its way on the album, though seems unfinished and is of little consequence. ‘Midnight Run’ is another superb instrumental with a haunting melody. Easily the weakest track on the album, ‘Malibu Blues,’ was Usher’s only collaboration with Disc Jockey Hal Goodwin. In Gary’s words;

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    “He kept hounding me to write a song with him, because Roger was writing all these hits. Therefore, to avoid any hard feelings, I asked him to give me some lyrics, and I would write the music. I remember thinking at the last minute, "I'll get this guy off my back." He was the happiest guy in the world, when he heard the result.”

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While production values are high, the song suffers from a lack of backing vocals and from some painfully dreadful lyrics. The album finishes strong with another instrumental, ‘Newport Beach,’ written by both Dick Burns and Usher.

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Surf Route 101 is a sundrenched offering chock-full of reverb, dynamics, and drum rolls making for some excellent instrumentals produced to the highest degree. Surprisingly, the album’s only shortcomings stem from a few weak vocal selections here and there. All in all, Surf Route 101 is an incredible surf album.