About the Phantom Surfers.
According to Wikipedia, the band has been around from 1988-present. They are from San Francisco, California and play a genre of music known as "Surf rock." Well, that about sums it up, sports fans.
Personnel.
"Swell" Mel Bergman: guitar
Mike "Mouth" Lucas: bass
Maz "Spazz" Kattuah: drums
Russell "Junky Johnny" Quan: guitar
Johnny "Big Hand" Bartlett: guitar
The critics speak!
By thoughtfully interpreting the works of others, critics play a crucial role in making those works comprehendible to the masses. Critics are also invaluable assets to the creators themselves, providing essential insight to the creative process. Ample illustration of both aspects of criticism abound in the following representative excerpts taken from reviews of the Phantom Surfers' albums.
From Milt Fresser's BAM review of "18 Deadly Ones":
"It's unclear exactly what the Phantom Surfers are trying to do here. Seventeen surf instrumentals and one really stupid vocal song? Somebody needs to do them a favor and tell them what's really going on in the music scene. It sure isn't this."
From Susan Armstrong's East Bay Express review of "The Phantom Surfers Play the Music From the Big Screen Spectaculars":
"From what I hear, the Phantom Surfers' lo-fi thing works well enough at their shows, but let's face it. No one's going to buy this when there are so many truly important bands putting out great albums. This is an insult. I guess it doesn't matter, though: they certainly aren't going to be around long enough to put out any more records."
From Milt Fresser's SF Weekly review of "The Exciting Sounds of Model Road Racing":
"Well, the Phantom Surfers have switched from Surf Music to Slot Car Music. I guess this means that they are no longer enjoying the success they did when the retro scene was really happening a couple of years ago. But I don't think the switch to Slot Car Music is going to be enough, since slot cars are still kind of retro. Maybe they need to change their name."
From Susan Armstrong's San Diego Reader review of "The Phantom Surfers with Dick Dale":
"Unfortunately, this lacks the drive and the fire that made the Phantom Surfers' previous releases so essential. It's too bad I never got to see them live, since that's supposed to be their forte, but this is definitely the end of the road for them."
From Milt Fresser's BAM review of "The Great Surf Crash of '97":
"I've always been a big fan of this band, but at this point I really think it's time for them to make way for bands that are doing something different than the whole facist retro pointy boot thing."
From Jimmy Jerkalope's Street Lite review of "Skaterhater":
"Man, why does Lookout! send me this shit?"
From Rolf Wannan's Sidney Guardian review of "A Decade of Quality Control, 1988-1999":
"No worries here, mate! I was listening to this with me missus just the other night. You know how it is when you and the missus are trying to have a root."
From Susan Armstrong's Santa Fe Sun review of "XXX Party":
"You know, I can't even remember the first time I saw the Phantom Surfers. They've certainly had a long and interesting career since then, but they show that they've run out of ideas with this infantile release, which is more of a cry for help than an actual album."