The Vanduras - In the Dark (2002)

"In the Dark" is the only album to date by this californian band which was founded by father and son Gary and Geof Brandin.
I would like to highlight the amazing original song "Charlotte" and the cover version of Wayne Shanklin's "The Big Hurt".

"In The Dark" combines the essence of surf-noir and spaghetti-western with a twist of exotic schmaltz. Brace yourself, this is a darker beach party where the Mai-Tai's are spiked with Vicadin and no ones really sure who's good, bad or ugly. The Vanduras go for the jugular and create an instrumental album that is anything but uneasy listening. (From the band's Myspace)

The Coffin Daggers - The Coffin Daggers EP (2005)

Taking advantage of my revivalistic mood, here's another wonderful guitar based band from New York. They are led by Viktor Venom, former guitarist of the hardcore punk bands Reagan Youth and Chaos UK.
The first track, "Coffin Dagger", is really electrifying, although it has an obvious strong influence of Dick Dale. The last track is a great cover version of Duke Ellington's "Caravan".
Enjoy!

The Ventures - Knock Me Out! (1965)

Here's another great issue by the amazing band The Ventures. Great original tracks along with excellent cover versions of classic tunes such as "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue", "Oh, Pretty Woman" and "I Feel Fine". This is the EMI France edition with 4 bonus tracks.
If you like this one, you can also see my previous post of The Ventures' "Pops in Japan Vol 1 & 2".

The Aqua Velvets - Nomad (1996)

Taking advantage of my two Ventures previous posts, here are The Aqua Velvets from San Francisco. They started to play in the late 80's and this 1996 recording is one of their finest. Enjoy!

The Ventures - Pops in Japan (1967)

The Ventures - Pops in Japan Nº 2 (1968)

Two magnificent pearls of the 60's surf/guitar rock.
These records contain japanese pop themes on a Ventures approach.
Enjoy!