AMG Review of Ride the Wild Surf

Bruce Eder
All Music Guide

This album is fairly uneven, ranging from the bracing title track and encompassing rock novelty hits such as "Sidewalk Surfin'" to poor filler cuts, like "Skateboarding-Part 1," that are more sound effects with music accompaniment than real music. It's a fun if not a very substantial way to spend 20-some minutes, and it shows what Jan & Dean could do when they weren't stretching their creative muscles very hard or far. Reissued in 1996 by One Way paired off with the much superior Jan & Dean Take Linda Surfin'.