by Cub Koda
Bruce Johnston had quite a prolific recording career prior to being tabbed as a Beach Boy of the future, and this self-produced effort was one of the more notable installments. From the &Twistin' U.S.A.&-styled knockoff title song, this is a really fun album, despite the rigidness of the concept inherent in the title. Noisy tracks like &Hot Pastrami, Mashed Potatoes, Come on to Rincon-Yeah!!!& sit nicely next to the jazzy but rockin' &Surf Nova,& the eerie but beautiful instrumental &Maksha at Midnight,& the gas'n'go romp of &Capetown,& and the experimental fuzz ravers &Jersey Channel Islands, Pt. 7& and &Virginia Beach.& Even portents of Johnston's future rear their stylistic heads on &The Hamptons& and &Surfin's Here to Stay.& Falling stylistically somewhere between the frat rock party noise of Surfers' Pajama Party and his later, more streamlined hot rod efforts with Terry Melcher, this is one fun, rockin' album indeed. [Originally released in 1963, Surfin' 'Round the World was reissued on a Japanese import-only CD in 2006.]