The second
Sentinals long-player,
Surfer Girl (1963), followed their debut
Big Surf! (1963) by only a few scant months. The five-member unit featured future
Turtles and
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young percussionist
Johnny Barbata (drums), alongside Tommy Nunes (guitar), Bobby Holmquist (sax), Harry Sackrider (guitar), and Kenny Hinkle (vocals/bass). Their sound is comparable to that of their first collection, blending a handful of originals -- primarily by Hinkle this time rather than Nunes -- with some adeptly chosen covers. The platter kicks off on the upbeat and clap-happy "Surf 'n Soul," sporting a built-in party atmosphere and the occasional whistle and shout thrown in for maximum effect. Although the Holmquist-penned "Sentinal" is presumably the band's theme song, it bears an uncanny resemblance to
the Royaltones' second-tier hit "Flamingo Express," while Hinkle's "Nite Shuffle" is based on "Night Theme" by the Preps, according to
Bryan Thomas' liner notes in the 2004 Big Surf!/Surfer Girl CD reissue. Other standouts of note are the redux of
Jessie Hill's Crescent City R&B classic "Ooh Poh Pa Doo" and
Freddie King's "Sensation," both of which are admittedly lightweight but thoroughly enjoyable. One of the more fascinating remakes is the comparatively up-tempo rendering of
the Beach Boys' title track "Surfer Girl." Should keen-eared listeners detect something slightly different about the performance, it may well be because the combo in question is actually
the Lively Ones rather than
the Sentinals -- again, based on
Thomas' essay. This brings up the inevitable conclusion that even though they are undeniably accomplished, the arguably ersatz West Coast style could have easily been mistaken for any number of similar groups such as
the Routers, Centurians, Challengers, or
Impacts. ~ Lindsay Planer