Fathoms this

The supreme surf rock of Frankie Blandino

by John O'Neill

The '90s surf revival slowly began to bubble up from the same West Coast environs that had initially spawned it 30 years ago. As grunge broke from the Pacific Northwest to shake the nation, surf music also

started to gain attention in the underground. Bright, shimmering, and subtly optimistic, surf was a knee-jerk reaction to the bombast and angst that was grunge's calling card. It spread from the Left Bank and continued west to Japan, hop-scotched to Europe, and finally landed in Boston (mysteriously bypassing Worcester) in 1996. By then, Frankie Blandino and his band the Fathoms had been pounding away on surf instrumentals for the better part of a year and were caught somewhat off-guard by the resurgence once it hit town, compliments of the post-Pulp Fiction hangover.

"I honestly didn't know there was a surf revival; we just liked it," says Blandino, who besides twisting the strings for the Fathoms also heads up the rockabilly flavored Cranktones, and plays lap steel in Western-swing sensations the Spurs.

"We had done a surf medley with the Cranktones that went over well, so we decided to start an all-instro band."

With the Cranktone-powered core of Blandino, drummer Stan Kozlowski, and bass player Johnny Sciascia, the Fathoms were born with the addition of rhythm guitarist Greg Burgess and saxman Dave Scholl (ex-Barrence Whitfield and the Savages).

While Boston sprouted a crop of bands who could best be described as quasi-surf, the Fathoms quickly made a mark for themselves as a killer live act that the new generation of instro-enthusiasts could dig, as well as impress old-school (and in some cases, just plain old) fans of the genre with a more traditional sound that reached back to the Ventures, Dick Dale, and the under-appreciated but extremely influential Astronauts. Their reverence for the music also spilled over to the band's look and style. While many of their popular contemporaries (Man or . . . Astroman?, Los Straightjackets, and the abominable Strangemen) were more interested in visual gimmicks, the Fathoms were content to dress sharp -- sharkskin jackets and skinny ties were the uniform of choice.

Quickly finding themselves on top of the East Coast heap, the Fathoms cut two songs for Tube -- Atlantic Surf Essentials (Cherrydisc), a compilation of Boston-area artists, and then went international with a full-length debut, Fathomless, for the California-based Atomic Beat/ AVI. Despite being hailed from sources as varied as CMJ, Option, and Cool and Strange Music, as well as Goldmine Magazine, which named the Fathoms as one off the all-time top 40 instrumental acts, Fathomless nonetheless sunk out of sight and was out of print when AVI was purchased by MCA for the label's back catalogue. All current bands on the roster were dropped.

"It helped us because it got us known in the realm of surf music," says Blandino of his time spent at a "big" label. "It was the first record deal of my entire life. I was in my mid-forties and still green! [AVI] had good distro and advertising, and they got our name out . . . it was a very good experience."

The Fathoms were immediately scooped up to cut a disc for the all-instrumental MuSick Records, also home to Satan's Pilgrims and the Space Cossacks. The resulting album, Overboard, not only picks up at the beach where the band left off, it qualifies as one of the most comprehensive listens on instrumental music ever produced. Blandino diversifies the band's sound and his originals touch on rockabilly, spaghetti Western, exotica, Las Vegas Grind strip, and Middle Eastern-flavored rag à la Dick Dale. Taken as a whole, Overboard retains all the "wet" super reverb-ed guitar twang synonymous with surf music and -- thanks to Scholl's sax playing -- adds a dynamic of sleaze-raunch that set the Fathoms apart from all others currently in the genre. And it will give them an unmistakable sound 20 years from now when these songs appear on the next wave's surf-compilation CD.

"Overboard is more diverse," readily agrees Blandino. "There are plenty of Astronaut-type songs; but it has a lot more sci-fi and grind . . . the songs have more grit."

Overboard also qualifies Blandino as a top-notch songwriter and arranger, offering tunes that are alternately textured with nuance and subtle moods, as well as classic super-charged speed-pickers that display Blandino's deft guitar playing. The songwriting is beautiful, well-structured, evenly-paced, and, most of all, a lot of fun to listen to. Blandino finds himself as the modern-day equivalent of the oft-covered Lee Hazlewood or Dick Dale, and his original compositions stand up against theirs in terms of spirit as well as ability.

"I'll sit down with a guitar and tape recorder and noodle around," he explains. "Some [songs] come in 10 minutes, some in two weeks. I want them to sound traditional, but not trite."

The only reason the Fathoms aren't more than critical darlings is their inability to tour outside the area. Blandino now has a baby daughter and a new mortgage to consider.

"I can't go anywhere unless I get paid pretty good. I play at night and I watch my daughter during the day. I don't want my kid in daycare. I'm 47 and I want to be around."

In the meantime the Fathoms will continue on as an all-too- infrequent live treat (they appear this Friday, October 2, at Killion's in Templeton, minus Burgess who has gone on to join the Amazing (Royal) Crowns full-time. He's been replaced by Andrew Panaggio of Newport's Astro Zombies), but one that is able to pick and choose dates, including a recent opening slot for the Ventures, the best-known and best-selling godfathers of instrumental music.

"It was a successful show, we sold out of CDs, LPs, everything," says Blandino. "That audience were generally into that type of music and they appreciated our originals. I don't get nervous, but I actually was before that show because I started thinking about the Ventures and what they mean to instrumental music. But it worked out well."