We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Living Fossils

by Insect Surfers

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    LIVING FOSSILS LINER NOTES
    The Dino M Sessions 1988
    This was the Insects first official foray into the recording studio (spring ’88) before the recording for the ‘Reverb Sun’ LP later that year.
    1. Insect Stomp - Dano (pronounced ‘Danno’) wrote this, he was a huge Halibuts fan, (they were kings of the South Bay surf scene in the 80s), and they did a lot of ska-influenced material.
    2 .Zuma Slam- I love body boarding at Zuma Beach, and this is my first (and,uh,last, I guess) official body boarding song. The waves there break fast and can totally slam you in a back-breaking fashion. The line ‘Future Frank he says I am’ is dedicated to a now-defunct fast food place (‘Future Frank!) that was near Washington and Hoover,. It actually had as its mascot a giant green hotdog in a space helmet with a word balloon saying ‘I am’ !!!
    3.Halley’s Beach - My pal (and founding DC Insect bassist) Robert Fass wrote this after we saw Halley’s Comet in 1986. It looked like a cotton ball!
    4.Polaris- That’s me playing the chimes with a Bic pen (!) on the intro and outro. I realized years later after writing this that i was channeling a bit of Patti Smith’s ‘Dancing Barefoot’!
    5.Outsider- A truly brilliant composition by Dano., and a real staccato-picking wrist workout for me! When a big wave comes in from nowhere without warning, surfers in the lineup will yell ‘Outsider’!
    6. Sunbeam- Dano and I wrote this about his red Sunbeam sports car, and we sing alternating lines. This and Reverb Sun’s ‘Pleasure Point’ are the only two songs we cowrote together.
    Guitars- David Arnson, Dano Sullivan, Bass-Mike O’Neil, Drums John Convertino, Sax,Keys—Dano

    7.Spiny 1986
    A 1986 recording done at buddy Pat Byers’ studio in ‘the valley’ somewhere. He programmed the drum machine! The last edition of the DC Insect Surfers usedta play this, I was inspired by doing a lot of listening to The Ventures at the time. We tried to get Bullfrog (‘Waterproof’!) Sunscreen to use this in a commercial as it sounds so ‘boing-y’, but they weren’t biting !
    Guitars- David Arnson, Dano Sullivan, Bass- David Arnson, Drum Programming-Pat Byers

    8.Massachusetts 1994
    One of the Baltimore area’s first punk bands was ‘Ebenezer And The Bludgeons’ ,who we played with in 1980. I saw them at a birthday party for John Waters at ‘Edie (The ‘Egg Lady’) Massey’s thrift store in summer of ’79! Anyway, to make a short story long, (after forming “The United States of Existence’), singer Dennis Davison moved to Los Angeles and started pop band extraordinaire ‘The Jigsaw Seen’ with guitarist Jonathan Lea. And they’re still playing! They had a bunch of bands do a tribute to pre-disco era Bee Gees in the 1994 release ‘Melody Fair’, thereby lending us legitimacy to be cool enough to be included on a compilation with other groovy bands! Thank you, Jigsaw Seen !
    Guitars- David Arnson, Dano Sullivan, Bass- Dan Valentie, Drums-Jeff Utterback, Tambourine-Dennis Davison

    9.Mr. Yunioshi 1996
    The success of the soundtrack to Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’ gave an incalculable (well, ok, it’s calculable) boost to the entire instrumental surf music scene, and certainly reinvigorated the semi-moribund ‘Del-Fi ‘label. Besides doing a run of their 60’s reissues, Del-Fi quickly put out the hilariously exploitatively titled ‘Pulp Surfin’ compilation (and our song ‘Bengazi’ got placed on it)! Even cooler was their ensuing Henry Mancini tribute, ‘Shots in The Dark’.We originally wanted to do ‘Touch Of Evil’ ,but ‘Man or Astroman?’ snagged it first! So we contributed ‘Mr. Yunioshi’, (the theme for Mickey Rooney’s appallingly politically incorrect depiction of the Japanese landlord from “Breakfast At Tiffany’s’) which originally featured a Japanese ‘shamisen’ banjo as lead instrument. I did this in Pete Curry’s converted shed of a studio (Big Fat Studios’), with Pete on both drums and overdubbed bass, and SST band ‘Lawndale’s Jack Skelley on rhythm guitar. Pete was then playing lead guitar with ‘The Halibuts’ , and currently rocks the bass in ‘Los Straitjackets’. Feel the magic!
    Guitars- David Arnson, Jack Skelley, Bass, Drums, Percussion- Pete Curry

    10.Cycle-Delic 2001
    This was from a compilation tribute to Davie Allan, in fact, the man who inspired me to start a band! The original of this song is so wacked, it’s like a solo that barely repeats itself! So this is a one-take cut, with me using a Fuzzrite fuzzbox and an ancient ‘JAX’ wah–wah pedal. Krazy, mann! Recorded in Pete Curry’s next (and current ) studio. Thanks to Dan Valentie for providing overdub material! Recorded 2001, came out in 2005.
    Guitars-David Arnson, Dan Valentie –overdub ‘chime’ guitar, Bass-Mark Hoeschler, Drums-Pete Curry, Percussion-Pete Curry, David Arnson

    11.Zorba’s Theme 1997
    One o’ my faves actually, but we never played it live cuz nobody except me liked it!
    We did this at Al Anderson (from fab band popDefect)’s fine Imperial Coin Studios in Silverlake.
    Guitars-David Arnson, Dano Sullivan., Bass-Dan Valentie, Drums-Mike ‘Firehouse’ Gregan


    12.Surfin’ Senorita 1999
    Label: “ We want you to do ‘Surfin’ Senorita!” Me:”But I don’t even really like that song, can’t we pick another?!” Label:”Look, we want you to do it and it’s the title track, OK?!” Me: “Awwww, uhhh, OK…”. Me, later:”Well, maybe it’ll be cooler if we speed it up a bit. Hmmm…” Me ,later:”Well, maybe it’ll be cooler if we add percussion.” Drummer: “If you add percussion, I’m quitting!” I added percussion. The drummer quit.
    Another session from Imperial Coin.
    Guitars-David Arnson, Dano Sullivan, Bass-Dan Valentie, Drums-Mike ‘Firehouse’ Gregan


    13.God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 1999
    A gentleman who’d worked with Rykodisc tried to get a Christmas release (‘Surf ’n’Slide 4 Xmas!’) out. Besides us, it would have had Mermen, Space Cossacks, Pollo Del Mar and other esteemed bands. Bands had tracks ready, but no label was interested. This was to have been our contribution. If it sounds a little rough, it’s because it never got beyond a rough mix. I love how Dano throws in a little bit of ‘Drummer Boy”! Another session from Imperial Coin.
    Guitars-David Arnson, Dano Sullivan., Bass-Dan Valentie, Drums-Mike ‘Firehouse’ Gregan

    Infra Green Demo Sessions 2011
    These were demos for what later became our ‘Infra Green’ release. Recorded at Dave Klein Recording. Dave is a swell fellow who has played with Agent Orange, Bomboras, Ghastly Ones, and has produced The Ding Dong Devils, etc…
    14. Orion Canyon- Ended up on our spaghetti western comp, ‘Mesa-delic’.
    15. Vaquita- I’m playing both guitars here as a blueprint. I actually wrote ‘Vaquita’ in 2004 after a hike in Joshua Tree, but it only existed on our ‘Lyve’ CD until this session. I was partially inspired to do dolphin sounds from The Byrds’ 1968 song ‘Dolphin’s Smile’.
    16.Speed of Life -Who the hell would think of instrumental bands playing Bowie songs? UK’s Cordelia Records, that’s who! Pollo Del Mar beat us to covering ‘Panic in Detroit’, but Jonpaul quickly and savvily picked an actual Bowie instrumental!
    17.Radar Road -The original idea was to have cool instro guitarists all do a one-minute solo over this backing track, which we did finally end up with, but I’m playing all guitars here as a blueprint. Recorded at Dave Klein Recording. …
    Guitars-David Arnson ,Marty Tippens (Orion Canyon,Speed Of Life) Bass-Jonpaul Balak, Drums-Adrien Anthony

    18.Thunderbirds Theme 2017
    Musick Records asked us to do a Shadows tribute, knowing that we’re definitely a stylistically different band, and that this would take us out of our comfort zone. And, really, The Shadows didn’t even WRITE this song, but they covered it, OK? I think that we ‘Insectified’ this fairly well, and once again horrified the purists.
    Guitars-David Arnson, Michael Abraham, Bass-Jonpaul Balak, Drums-Chris Roberts

    19.Polaris 1986
    Going back to visit family in Washington DC, this was the very first incarnation of this song. Recorded in Sean Mencher’s living room on Connecticut Avenue! Sean is now a towering giant in the roots-rock fingerpicking world (High Noon, Ronnie Dawson, Wayne Hancock, etc etc…), look him up!
    Guitars-David Arnson on Sean’s tele, Sean Mencher-acoustic guitar, Bass, Drums—Sean’s roommates

    Thanks, folks!
    -David Arnson
    ... more
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in an old-school, full-sized jewel case with a special 6-panel booklet containing extensive, insightful liner notes by David Arnson!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Living Fossils via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    edition of 500 

      $12 USD or more 

     

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.

about

By popular demand! Living Fossils collects many of the songs that Insect Surfers have contributed to various compilations over the past few decades! Many of these physical releases have been out of print for years. Also included are select demo sessions that the beach bugs have used as rough sketches for final recordings!

credits

released May 17, 2019

Guitar: David Arnson, Michael Abraham, Dano Sullivan, Jack Skelley, Marty Tippens, Sean Mencher
Bass: Jonpaul Balak, Mike O'Neil, David Arnson, Dan Valentie, Pete Curry, Mark Hoeschler
Drums: Chris Roberts, John Convertino, Pat Byers, Jeff Utterback, Pete Curry, Mike Gregan

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Insect Surfers Los Angeles, California

Planet Earth's Longest Running Modern Surf Band!

contact / help

Contact Insect Surfers

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Insect Surfers, you may also like: