The Aqua Velvets, a San Francisco outfit, launched their singular approach to original surf rock toward the end of the 1980s. Emerging from the heart of the fresh surf-rock wave that gathered force between the late eighties and early nineties, the musicians drew from the work of Dick Dale, the Shadows, the Ventures, Link Wray, Arthur Lyman and Ennio Morricone. Their surf-rock sound wove in strands of Latin and Mediterranean traditions, psychedelic textures, rockabilly energy and traces of the emerging lounge style. The lineup featured Miles Corbin on songwriter duties and guitars, Michael Lindner handling bass, keyboards and accordion, Hank Maninger on guitar, and Donn Spindt, formerly the Rubinoos drummer, behind the kit.
The quartet’s strong, self-produced and self-titled debut arrived in 1992 via Riptide/Heyday Records. Captured in stages across four years during after-hours sessions inside the Porsche garage where Lindner worked as a mechanic, the recordings benefited from the natural reverb supplied by the concrete floor and lofty ceilings. Three years afterward the band issued Surfmania through WEA/Atlantic, then followed with 1996’s Nomad on Milan Entertainment/BMG and Guitar Noir the next year. Their tracks also surfaced in the feature Jury Duty, the documentary Surfer Girl and the CD-ROM Surf 101.
