A Lasting Impact On Surf Music!
Mike King | Taunton, MA United States | 07/31/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The Impacts were a surf group from California that originally lasted from 1960 to 1964. The band included Merrell Fankhauser on lead guitar, John Oliver on bass guitar, Steve Evans on rhythm guitar, Martin Brown on pedal steel guitar, Joel Rose on saxophone, Steve Metz on drums, and Jack Metz on vocals. The group's main claim to fame was recording the first version of the song "Wipe Out."
(1) WIPE OUT - This song doesn't have any drum solos and only has the basic melody of the tune that, with some important changes, would later become a major hit for the Surfaris.
(2) FT. LAUDERDALE - This is a rocker, with great interplay between the lead guitar and sax.
(3) TEARS - This slow ballad sounds like a throwback to the fifties.
(4) REVELLION - I especially like the way Merrell holds the last note of this rocking song.
(5) BLUE SURF - This bluesy ballad is perfect for slow dancing.
(6) IMPACT - A drum solo kicks this tune off in high gear, and the Impacts keep firing on all cylinders from start to finish.
(7) STEEL PIER - This mid-tempo rocker features the pedal steel guitar to great effect, and also boasts some great drumming.
(8) TANDEM - This is another mid-tempo rocker that features great interplay between the band members.
(9) SEA HORSE - This is a mid-tempo ballad that lazily lopes along.
(10) BEEP BEEP - This lively song, with its musical and spoken chorus of "beep beep," comes close to being a novelty song.
(11) LISA - This song sounds like Duane Eddy meets Link Wray, and could easily have been the theme song of a juvenile delinquent movie.
(12) CHURCH KEY - The Impacts turn in a solid version of this classic surf instrumental, which virtually every surf group has covered."
