Stingrays

The Stingrays are the Hanson of instrumental surf rock, each member is 16 or 17 years old. They play straight-ahead surf with the energy and confidence few other bands of any age have in the current scene. The title track cleverly and skilfully incorporates the opening riff from Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper." The rest of the album is equally strong, with the peppy "Los Mosquitos" and the catchy "Weiners and Beans" coming from the clean, original, technical Insect Surfers school of playing. There are a couple of covers here, and the played-out "Pipeline" is one of them, but these freckle-faced California kids' early age gets them off the hook for not knowing any better. Keep up the good work, you little bastards!