Surf Music

** 1/2 Brazil 2001 "Fist Full of Sand" (no label) Brazil 2001 hangs five in the reverb-soaked tradition of '60s surf music. But where the other foot goes is unpredictable--and that's a big part of the charm of this humorous but seriously sizzling rock trio from L.A. This debut CD's highlight is a cover of the Pyramids' early '60s nugget "Penetration."

Wave riding enthusiasts dedicated a Surfing Walk of Fame on Saturday to pay homage to the sport's pioneers, competitors and culture. "I take great pride in being able to say I'm the best surfer in the United States Congress," Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), an avid surfer, told about 100 people gathered under sunny skies for the ceremony. "Of course, some people do point out that I'm the only surfer in the U.S.

The host of the rummage sale didn't know what he had, but Allan Seymour did and gladly paid the negotiated price of $85 for the Bob Simmons balsa wood surfboard hanging in the rafters of the garage. Simmons was the first surfboard builder to combine balsa and fiberglass construction to save weight and increase maneuverability. He was killed by his own board in 1954 while surfing at Windansea in San Diego.

A pink hearse will be tooling around Orange County during the next few days. Its mission is not to give some dearly departed an unusually colorful send-off, but to herald the resurrection of an historical body of Southern California rock 'n' roll. The man with the hearse is Bob Keane, president of Del-Fi Records, which has just reissued its 12-album catalogue of 1963-vintage instrumental surf rock music on compact disc.

The essence of surf music has been obscured by all the lightweight imagery that went with it back when the Southern California dream was being retailed to an eager nation: Frankie and Annette, beach blanket bingo, fun fun fun in the California sun. All those trappings may have helped sell surf music back in its early-'60s heyday, but it is the core musical notion behind the style that makes it worth listening to now.

"And you'll never hear surf music again," Jimi Hendrix intones in a pipe-dream voice before the dissonant climax of his great 1967 rock 'n' roll tone poem, "Third Stone From the Sun."

On the Weirdo Scale, the Ziggens can hold their own with anyone who comes before them alphabetically. They write really funny songs, and as a tight trio they can play up a storm, which they will no doubt do when they make their Ventura debut Saturday night upstairs at Nicholby's, on a bill with Dieselhed. And for a bunch of guys from Wisconsin who moved to Orange County, the Ziggens play pretty good surf music.

It all started with a series of free Sunday concerts in the parking lot of the International Surf Museum. But when the museum staffers didn't have any artists for the 28th, they decided to open it up as a jam session for musicians from surf bands. Well, it grew, and grew, and then next thing they knew they had the Ultimate Surfin' Sunday Rendezvous Ballroom Reunion on their hands.

This year's California Beach Party will feature music as good as the surf was 10 minutes before you arrived. Dick Dale, "King of the Surf Guitar," is the famous headliner, but there will be a wide array of local talent on hand, including Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Spencer the Gardener, the Convertibles, Roadhouse Rockers, Southern Cross, Raw Silk and Acadiana.