01) Razorback 2:19 (arnson) (from: Death Valley Coastline)
02) Mojave 2:56 (sullivan) (from: Reverb Sun)
03) Volcano Juice 2:59 (arnson) (from: Death Valley Coastline)
04) Mr. Yunioshi 2:51 (mancini) (from: comp: Shots in the Dark)
05) Zorba's Theme 2:43 (theodorakis) (from: comp: Mondo Drive-in)
06) Tethys 2:46 (arnson) (from: Mojave Reef)
07) Tiger Shark 3:05 (arnson) (from: Death Valley Coastline)
08) Polaris 3:59 (arnson) (from: Reverb Sun)
09) Black Sea 3:55 (arnson) (from: Mojave Reef)
10) Massachusetts 2:02 (gibb/gibb/gibb) (from: comp: Melody Fair - Tribute to the Bee Gees)
11) Bouzouki 2:47 (arnson) (from: Reverb Sun)
12) Dorsal Fin 3:07 (arnson) (from: Wavelength)
13) Diamondback 4:07 (arnson) (from: Death Valley Coastline)
14) Outsider 2:43 (sullivan) (from: Reverb Sun)
15) Flamin' Eddie's Dragstrip 3:08 (arnson) (from: Mojave Reef)
16) Horizon Riders 3:53 (arnson) (from: Mojave Reef)
17) Psychotronic 2:45 (arnson) (from: Death Valley Coastline)
18) Silver Coast 4:25 (arnson) (from: Mojave Reef)

VIDEOS:
Horizon Riders (live - May 15, 2004 The Galaxy Theater, Santa Ana, CA)
Bouzouki (live - May 15, 2004 The Galaxy Theater, Santa Ana, CA)
Polaris (live - ? August 21, 1994 Sunset Junction Street Scene, Silverlake, CA)
Mojave (live - ? August 21, 1994 Sunset Junction Street Scene, Silverlake, CA)

Arnson and Sullivan songs published Kalaallit Nunaat Music, BMI
Mancini song published Famous Music Corp. ASCAP
Theodorakis song published Miller Music, ASCAP
Bee Gees song courtesy Gibb Brothers Music, BMI

David Arnson-left guitar, sitar guitar, bouzouki, electric saz
Dano Sullivan-right guitar, sitar guitar, saxophone
Dan Valentie-bass guitar
Jim Sciurba-drums

Davie Allan-fuzz guitar (3)
Jack Skelley-rhythm guitar (4)
David Petersen-guitar (12)
Michael O'Neil-bass (2, 8, 14)
Pete Curry-bass (4), drums (4)
David Arnson-fretless bass (12)
John Convertino-drums (2, 8, 11, 14)
Jeff Utterback-drums (3, 7, 10, 17)
Steve Bidrowsky-drums (1, 13)
Dan Buccino-drums (12)
Mike "Firehouse" Gregan-drums (5, 15)
Mike "Strider" Duke-ARP synth, Farfisa (12)
Dennis Davison-tambourine (10)
Biz-rattlesnake (13)

Song 12 from "Wavelength", Wasp Records 1981.
Songs 2, 8, 11, 14 from "Reverb Sun", Marlin Records, 1991.
Songs 3, 7, 13, 17 from "Death Valley Coastline", Marlin Records, 1996.
Songs 6, 9, 15, 16, 18 from "Mojave Reef", Marlin Records, 2003.
Song 4 originally released 1996, from "Shots in the Dark", Del-Fi Records.
Song 5 originally released 1997, from "Mondo Drive-In", Blood Red Records.
Song 10 originally released 1994, from "Melody Fair", eggBERT Records.
Dorsal Fin is previously unreleased.

Insect Art: David Arnson, Package: Ferocious Doberman
More info on the web: www.insectsurfers.com

LINER NOTES:
Entomology Etymology
The History of the Insect Surfers

by Ferenc Dobronyi
Secretary, NorCal Chapter Insect Surfers Fan Club
October 2004

Legend has it that while David Arnson was studying for a high school biology test, he drew a cartoon of a bug on a long board riding a big wave. He thought that the picture summed up what he wanted to do with a band, a surf sound with an insecty buzz to it. In the Spring of 1979, the Insect Surfers were born in Bethesda, Maryland. They called their take on new wave music "Techno-Surf", as they used a synth/farfisa combo and had a science-fiction bent to many of their lyrics. ("Dorsal Fin" is typical of the early Insects sound.)

The Insects found success immediately and shared stages with the best bands of the growing Washington D.C. punk and new wave scene. They released a couple singles, an EP, and then an LP on William Asp's WASP Records and toured the U.S.A. extensively in the early 1980s before breaking up in '84 when Arnson decided to move west. The early days of the Insects have become somewhat of a footnote to the long career that would follow, but it's important to know that their early days are still revered among D.C. area music fans. This compilation, Satellite Beach, largely focuses on what came after their metamorphoses.

Arriving in Los Angeles in 1986, Arnson quickly pulled together a new Insect Surfers crew, finding a kindred spirit in native angeleno Danny Sullivan. Danny had played everything from Beatles to Black Sabbath and Dave found him well suited to the trade-off guitar lines that would become the tattoo of the new Insect's sound: Two guitarists equally matched in tone and ability, each playing rhythm, lead, harmony, counterpoint, dual and dueling lines.

With their reformation in L.A., the Insect's set underwent a huge transformation as they dropped almost all of the vocals to focus on the instrumentals (track 11, "Bouzouki" is one song that made the cross-coastal move). David describes his attraction to instro— "It's a soundtrack for the mind. It's a way to express a lyric without words. It's beyond speech." And, indeed, the Insects Surfer's performances often leave listeners speechless. 1991's Reverb Sun CD shows the band having made a full transition from new wave to instro-mental mania.

David and Danny remain the constant on the Insect's recorded output, with a rotating cast making up the rhythm section. Dan Valentie appears most frequently as bass player, although he fills in on guitar if Danny can't make a show. And then, you ask, who fills in for Valentie? This is one of the most complicated aspects of being an I.S. fan, wondering who exactly will be in the band at any given live show. The Insect's website keeps track of who the band members were on every gig, and just a glance figures that more than 20 musicians have filled in various slots behind Arnson, the players are a virtual who's who of L.A.'s rock and surf scene.

Songs like "Tiger Shark" or Danny's "Outsider" show why the Insect Surfers have a kinship with the surf music scene, though their sound is far from what is known as the traditional surf twang of Fender Jazzmasters. Both guitarists use Gibsons to get their fat tone, Danny playing a Flying V with humbuckers and Dave with his battered (the MC5's Wayne Kramer called it a "Love Machine") P-90 equipped SG. Eschewing the trad surf tone of the simple reverb tank, you might see any number of stomp box effects on the floor in front of them at gigs, from phasers to fuzz, wah-wahs to flangers (or all of the above plus samples from "Plan 9 from Outer Space" as on track 16-"Psychotronic.") In the studio, they have never been afraid to add exotic stringed instruments such as sitar, bouzouki or the electric saz that Dave bought on a trip to Istanbul. These studio adventures continued on 1996's Death Valley Coastline, causing no less than Billboard Magazine to recognize that "the Surfers sport one of the strongest guitar front lines in L.A."

One thing the Insects do share with trad-surf is an emphasis on melody. Each song works through the familiar pop structure of intro/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/solo/outro that clearly sets them apart from being a mind numbing noodle jam band. The guitarists trade lead lines for the verses and choruses, and, generally, everybody gets their licks in at some point in the solo section-check out Danny's "Mojave" as a great example of instrumental interplay. The Insects claim Neil Young, Television, Quicksilver, Link Wray ("Razorback" is a tribute to him) and Davie Allan as primary influences (Davie can be heard playing fuzz guitar on track 3, "Volcano Juice"). This primal rock sound is found all over the tracks on Satellite Beach, often intricately intertwined with the exotic middle eastern scales ("Black Sea") first introduced to the genre by Dick Dale. Dick commented (in a way that only Dick can) while listening to the Insects, "I see a guy on the nose of a longboard, sun goin' down, wind blowing through his hair, going across the face of a wave, like in Endless Summer. This is real nice. It's music I wouldn't blow up a building with, but it's music that I'd lay back, shut the lights out, and listen to. It's well done."

Instrumental music lends itself to more imaginative interpretations than vocal music, as it is not bogged down with mundane lyrics. The I.S. sound, with open arrangements and driving rhythms often calls to mind desert scenarios filled with peyote, snakes, gunslingers, more peyote, and a strong desire to get the hell out of dodge. Check out "Diamondback" and "Horizon Riders" for a taste of the Insect's Spaghetti Western influence.

As you can tell by the cover art of Satellite Beach, the Science-Fiction angle has never waned as an influence. The chimey and pristine "Polaris" has been an audience favorite for 18 years now. David describes "Tethys" as a song about "either one of Saturn's moons, a Greek Titan sea goddess, or the name of earth's first ocean, or maybe all three!" For the ultimate Sci-Fi connection, "Silver Coast" was recorded in author Ray Bradbury's old mansion in Venice, California. This compilation brings together three hard to find I.S. tracks that have only appeared on tributes. Henry Mancini's "Mr.Yunioshi" originally appeared on "Shots in the Dark" and features Pete Curry of The Halibuts and Los Straitjackets fame. "Zorba's Theme"-the classic movie song by Theodorakis was originally released on Blood Red Records' "Mondo Drive-In." And perhaps the most curious track on the "Melody Fair" tribute to harmony trio The Bee Gees, was the Insect Surfer's instro version of "Massachusetts." Also from a Blood Red compilation is "Flamin' Eddie's Drag Strip', but this tireburner also made an appearance on the 2003 "Mojave Reef" CD.

2004 finds the Insect Surfers still gigging regularly in Los Angeles. In 2003 they won the award for "Best Instrumental Band" from the L.A. Weekly. In the past two decades they have shared stages with such artists as The Ventures, Dick Dale, Link Wray, Davie Allan, Chris Isaak, Jonathan Richman, Southern Culture on the Skids and The B52s. Currently, the Insect Surfers are the longest-running modern surf-instrumental band on the planet. Live shows still feature the band bouncing around the stage, spending nearly as much time above it as they do on it. And, yeah, Arnson still draws the insect on the long board for his monthly flyers, just as he maintains his vision for the band with a buzz.

Green Cookie Records GC-007; Greece 2005; 35 min

Razorback / Mojave / Volcano Juice / Mr Yunioshi / Zorba's Theme / Tethys / Tiger Shark / Polaris / Black Sea / Massachusetts / Bouzouki / Dorsal Fin / Diamondback / Outsider / Flamin' Eddie's Drag Strip / Horizon Riders / Psychotronic / Silver Coast plus videos: Horizon Riders - Bouzouki / Polaris / Mojave

USA band Insect Surfers have been around since 1979, and since 1985 in their present all-instrumental guise. Satellite Beach is a compilation of their best 18 tracks from the last 20 years, a fine introduction to the band if you have never heard them. It's also a useful set as it includes the unreleased Dorsal Fin and three hard to find tracks. Mr Yunioshi originally appeared on Del-Fi's Shots In The Dark tribute to Henry Mancini, Zorba's Theme was on Blood Red Records' Mondo Drive-In, and Massachusetts appeared on the Melody Fair tribute to the Bee Gees. Three videos are included as a bonus, these are single camera shoots which also use the camera for sound.

Dave Arnson and Danny Sullivan provide the guitar dynamics, each playing rhythm, lead and harmony, trading lines with equal virtuosity on their respective Gibsons. My favourites include Volcano Juice, a three minute guitar extravaganza set to a Bo Diddley beat with Davie Allan joining in for a wah-wahed fuzz solo. Tethys has a moody melody over a chunky rhythm, Tiger Shark romps and ranges with a pleasing jangle, and Polaris is a slower, atmospheric theme with a jerky beat. Black Sea bounces around with a middle-eastern flavour while the catchy melody of Diamondback is aided by its pulsing beat. Flamin' Eddie's Dragstrip is a Davie Allan influenced rocker and Horizon Riders a hypnotic galloper. It's adventurous stuff without becoming overblown or overlong.

Alan Taylor
(P.O.Box 50501, 540 13 Thessaloniki, Greece, www.greengookie.gr)

I've been awash in some great new surf CDs over the last month or two.

Insect Surfers Best Of - wow, wow, wow! I HIGHLY recommend this CD! Not exactly trad, but again a lot tradder than a lot of people would expect, I think. This comp gets it exactly right - all of their best stuff is on here. EXCELLENT and lengthy liner notes by Ferenc (where the hell do you find the time, Ferenc???!!!), excellent packaging, some videos (haven't checked them out yet), but the most important thing is the music. And Insect Surfers have really written and recorded many truly unique and inspiring surf songs. Quite honesty, I hadn't listened to these guys for a long time before I got this CD, and kinda forgot how much I liked many of their songs. Well, this reminded me. For anyone whose tastes are a bit broader than just the total trad surf thing, you can't go wrong with this CD. An almost immaculate introduction to this long-running band.

Ivan P
Reverb Enthusiast

The Insect Surfers are being sponsored by Body Glove.