GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Members of "Tiki Taboo," that include Beano Shots, left, Byron Lai and James Ganeko, rehearse for an upcoming gig at Blue Tropix.

Sounds like summer

The "for-fun" local surf band
Tiki Taboo goes legit with
its debut CD

The twangy surf music of the mid-1960s may have started in sun-kissed Southern California, but it traveled well across the mainland and around the world, even to Japan, where one James Ganeko was inspired.

In Concert "Liberation Celebration'' featuring Tiki Taboo: Where: Blue Tropix, 1700 Kapiolani Boulevard When: 6 p.m. Sunday Admission: $10 with $5 going to Friends of the Panaewa Rainforest Zoo Call: 944-0001

Ganeko, along with his fellow intrepid bandmates in Tiki Taboo, are realizing their dream fun band, and after doing private parties, the occasional Sunset on the Beach gig in Waikiki, and last year's Pro Bowl tailgate party, they'll hit the stage again this weekend for a benefit for the former Blue Tropix club monkeys now housed at the Panaewa Rainforest Zoo in Hilo -- at the club itself, thanks to owner Darren Tsuchiya.

The band also recently released its self-titled debut, with production help by veteran recording engineer Milan Bertosa, who just happens to play guitar in the band, along with Ganeko and Beano Shots (aka David Sumida), drummer Bert Kono and bassist Byron Lai, replacing Cay Miller, who left due to more pressing family and work duties.

At an easygoing afternoon rehearsal at Sumida's home studio on the grounds of the family watercress farm in Aiea a couple of Sundays ago, drummer-percussionist Ganeko knew that, even before his moving to Hawaii (where his father is from), playing surf "eleki" (electric guitar) would one day be a reality.

"It was always my idea to play in a surf band," he said. "I always loved listening to it in Japan, where the Ventures were big and the band. My older brother actually started playing first, but when I started, it was '60s and '70s music."

With the exception of Kono, who's part of the legacy of the longtime local cover band the Ebb Tides, everyone else has done their fair share of time with other bands spanning a good number of years, i.e. the Squids, Hat Makes the Man, the Pagan Babies, Oriental Love Ring, Third Degree, Wild Edna and Manny's Bones.

Two years ago, "Milan and I started this band, mainly because we both wanted to play guitar." (Bertosa's main axe is the electric bass.) After the quartet was formed, Sumida came on as the fifth and appointed "conductor" of Tiki Taboo, because "Milan and I have always worked together as a rhythm section, so we made Beano the ad hoc leader."

"This has always been a for-fun band," Bertosa added later by phone, "and it still is, as far as I'm concerned. ... It's a cool band, to play with friends."

"Having Beano in the band, for me, makes the difference, because we needed a legit guitar player. I mean, it's the difference between getting paid or not being paid, you know what I mean? With him, we're a legitimate band."

ALL THREE get their own solo time on any given song, although Ganeko and Bertosa admit they're learning a lot from Sumida's guitarwork, and how to complement each other.

The CD, made over the course of two Sundays, was "a natural extension after rehearsing a bunch. It was initially done to just document what the band did, so 40 years from now, after yelling at our kids for the racket they're making, we can show them that 'well, this is what I did.' But once James decided to make this album available in stores (and by e-mailing tikitabooboo@yahoo.com), so long as he paid for the licensing of the songs that we covered, it was OK by me."

And from the unmistakable opening Dick Dale staccato line of "Miserlou," to the closing strains of the Surfaris' "Wipeout," Tiki Taboo pretty much covers the big hits of surf music's heyday (or ho-dad) -- much of it the Ventures' -- as well a couple of neat Japanese-written songs of the era.

Also included in "deluxe surf-a-sonic sound" are six originals penned either by Ganeko or Sumida. Ganeko's "Fortune Cookie" is a sneaky little thing, complete with gong and a familiar faux-Chinese motif, and his "Peking Duck" quacks along with a Chuck Berry-inspired shuffle. Sumida's "Shark Bait" is the most aggressive rock song on the album (with a little Led Zeppelin "Dazed and Confused" quote thrown in for good measure), while his reflective and slightly melancholic "Repent" actually dates back to his early years with Hat Makes the Man.

Tiki Taboo's music has also been featured on OC 16's "Board Stories."

Other than that, Sumida said, while cradling his worn Fender Telecaster, that "what we do is channel the music of that era -- we pretty much stay with the old sound ... although, live, we can get pretty loud and stretch it out more.

"It's good to hear this old-style music, and we really do sound like a vintage surf band," he said. "When we did the Anna Bannana's benefit gig for co-owner Mike Piranha a while ago, there was a bunch of young people who listened to us when we followed the band, Dork, that they originally came to see. I remember we rocked that night, and afterwards, they were all lined up in front of us, asking about our gear and the music. And these are kids my oldest son's age, and he plays in the punk band the Ex-Superheroes. Now they're totally into surf music.

"I've always thought of it as the predecessor of punk music, so when we made that connection with those kids, it made my night."