Various

The concept behind this compilation CD is fairly simple: 20 modern bands cover songs from Del-Fi Records’ golden era — 1958 to ‘68. This once defunct, L.A.-based label was recently brought back to life by royalty money from Quentin Tarantino’s use of songs on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. One of those the Lively Ones’ “Surf Rider,” is covered here by Los Straitjackets, and is one of the standouts. Also great are the Tiki Tones wild, Moog-driven cover of the Romancers’ “Slauson Shuffle,” the Wondermints’ exotic run through of Eden Ahbez’ “Full Moon (Tropical Blend)” and Davie Allan and the Arrows’ fuzz-out of the Bobby Fuller Fours’ “Our Favorite Martian.” Surprisingly, the majority of these lushly-produced tracks are pretty good, with the coolest material being on the surf/exotica/weird end of the spectrum.