Huntsville, AL, band
Daikaiju (which means "giant monster" in Japanese) came along to put their stamp on instrumental surf music 40 years after the style first became popular. The band has been building up a following for several years, but this self-titled effort is its first full-length CD. On it, the sound of
Duane Eddy and
the Ventures rides again, as pseudonymous guitarists
Secret Asian Man and
Dymaxion Lee twang and chime through original instrumental tunes that could have accompanied surfing footage in the early '60s, with the rhythm section of bassist
Brain Conflict and drummer
Mr. Nein charging the beats. For the most part, this is rigorously formulaic, the only slight change in approach appearing in the eight-and-a-half-minute closing track, "Farewell to Monster Island," which employs a reggae beat. Of course, there is still a surf music fan base out there, just as there seems to be for every musical genre that has ever existed, and
Daikaiju stand ready to serve it.