Pollo Del Mar – The Ocean Is Not For Cowards CD (www.pollodelmar.com)

Teleport ’63, Death Valley Daze, Playa Pistola, Take Your Clothes Off, Insecticide, The Blue Rider, 2314-B, To Surf With Love, The Whammy, Erik Estrada, Gate, Nightsticks, Snow Crash, Pearl Diver (Live)

In the liner notes, Phil Dirt says PDM are somewhere between Zappa and the Insect Surfers, which rings true from their clean production and non-traditional surf guitar sound. Sometimes they’re too experimental for my closed-minded ears, but there’s a few on here that I dig like Death Valley Daze, which has a laid-back, afternoon-in-the-sun kind of riff. Another band comparison might be with the Mermen, since there’s a few tunes on here like Pearl Diver with that kind of power and "ocean music" vibe.