Real Cool Hits

No mere footnote in surf music history, the Avengers VI were an exceptional group of clean-cut rockers in matching suits from Anaheim, CA, whose somewhat forgotten classic, "Time Bomb" was covered in recent years by both Man or Astro-man? and the Bomboras. This reissue of their first recording, which came out in 1966, was originally intended to be promotion for the Good Humor Ice Cream Company. The cover features them on top of and around an ice cream truck sporting matching aqua-colored suits. Nearby, an ice cream man displays a Popsicle. But the album is also a very impressive and enjoyable collection of originals and covers including a knockout take on "Downtown," as well as Henry Mancini's "Mr. Lucky" and more obvious choices like "Pipeline" and "Peter Gunn." It's the originals, though, that make the case for the band being a forgotten gem amongst the legions of '60s surf groups. Featuring scintillating organ riffs and three guitars going berserk, songs like "None But the Brave" and "The Avengers Stomp" prove the Avengers VI to be a crucial, though mostly forgotten chapter of the surf music era.