Sant Anna Bay Coconuts - Wheels & Waves CD (Surf Cookie) 

This unusually named band hails from Antwerp, Belgium, not exactly the first place one thinks of for big surf or surf bands. However, it doesn’t matter as this group has an incredible sound - they take the traditional instruments and sounds of early 60’s surf and gives them a unique European flair. The lead guitars pick out melody lines that you might hear with any surf band (well done lead lines, I should add), but it’s really the rest of the band that gives them a sound all their own. They use rhythms that just aren’t commonly heard with surf music - ska and flamenco among them, accompanied by intricate percussion. The song that perfectly summarizes their approach is “Toledo Panic Button” which features the James Bond theme melody, but adds some movie soundtrack style interludes, spaghetti western bits and the “Squad Car” police siren. All in one song! Overall this is a great album - still not sure about the band name, but musically they have it all going on!

Tracks: Becici Beach Stomp - Nazare - The Haunted Lighthouse Of St. Augustine - Toledo Panic Button - Cumbia Colada - Don Ramon - Left Bank Swamp - Mayhem On The Atlantic - Tiki Rose Tattoo - Caught In The Curves - Magic Mushrooms - Dr. Devil - Exorcism