Knights - Surfin' The Web CD (Lance Records - www.lancerecords.com)

The story on the Knights dates back to 1961 when they were first playing as an instrumental combo called King Richard and the Knights, maybe best known for their instro, "Precision". With stomping grounds in Albuquerque, the Knights came from a region of the U.S. that also produced other instrumental greats like the Fireballs. As was the case for many a surf or instro combo, the original Knights met their demise at the hands of the moptop craze by 1967. More recently though, they've been active again. Along with reissues of some of their original recordings, they've put together a new instro cd. Surfin' The Web is a laid back collection of instro tunes that hearken back to the original Fireballs / Norman Petty style. These are guitar instrumental tunes with a spare, non-reverbed sound and casual pleasant melodies. Mostly originals, with a few cover tunes like the appropriate Fireballs cover in Bull Dog. It's a short cd, but a nicely done modern take on the southwest instro style, without adding any crappy synthesizers or other "updated" elements - so the mood is preserved.