The Bomboras are an American all-instrumental surf band from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States. The band was formed in the summer of 1994, sharing a love of 1960s surf and garage music such as

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...

, Booker T, and

The Sonics The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington that formed in 1960. Their aggressive, hard-edged sound has been a major influence on punk and garage music worldwide, and they have been named inspirations to the White Str ...

. Donning

Day of the Dead The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...

regalia onstage, the fivesome tempered their retro-stylings with an update by way of

The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United S ...

The Pandoras The Pandoras is an all-female garage punk band from Los Angeles, California with a run from 1982 to 1991. The band is among the first handful of all-female rock bands to ever be signed. From the beginning, the band found a strong following in the ...

, and

Nuggets Nuggets may refer to: Music * ''Nuggets'' (series), a series of compilation albums by Elektra Records, continued by Rhino * '' Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968'' * '' Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from ...

. Accompanied by frenzied Go Go girls, spitting flames, stage-diving, and destroying their own equipment, the Bomboras’ livid funhouse take on surf rock became an object of fan adoration, albeit a worry to the local fire department. The Bomboras took their name from a classic surf instrumental by the Original Surfaris (not to be confused with a different song with the same title, "Bombora," by the Australian surf combo The Atlantics) and released several albums on Burbank-based indie label

Dionysus Records In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Roma ...

between 1995 and 1997. In summer 1997 Rob Zombie took notice of the band and signed them to his then newly formed Zombie a Go-Go label, which was distributed by

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

. The Bomboras finally called it quits in 2000 with some of the members forming the Lords of Altamont and some members formed The Legendary Invisible Men. Drummer Dave Klein is currently playing drums with legendary surf/punk band Agent Orange and produces bands a
Dave Klein Recording
his private studio in Los Angeles. On December 31, 2006, New Year's Eve of 2007, The Bomboras played a return show in Hollywood. The Bomboras played a full set of songs at The Wild'O Fest in Mexico City June 16, 2018. They also played a full show at "Tiki-Au-Go-Go" at The Warehouse Restaurant in Marina Del Rey, California on January 25, 2020.

Line up

*Action Andy - bass/vocals *

Von Franco Von Franco (born May 29, 1952) is a self-taught American artist associated with the Lowbrow art movement and Kustom Kulture. He became involved at an early age in the burgeoning hot rod and Kustom Kulture scene of Southern California. His skil ...

- guitar * Dave Klein - drums *Shane "The Showman" Van Dyke - bass/vocals *Johnny DeVilla - guitar/vocals *Gregg Lord Hunt - guitar/vocals * Jake Cavaliere - keys/vocals

Selected discography

*''Savage Island'', 1995 The band's first album for Dionysius, Savage Island cost only $200 to make and was recorded in just two days. *''Swingin' Singles!'', 1996 *''Organ Grinder'', 1995/1997 *''Starship Troopers'', 1997 *''It Came from Pier 13!'', 1997 The album was described by Stewart Mason on AllMusic as being "as good as neo-surf instrumental albums get" *''Board Headz Movie'', 1998 *''Head Shrinkin' Fun'', 1998

References

External links

The Bomboras MySpace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bomboras Garage rock groups from California Musical groups established in 1994 Musical groups disestablished in 2000 Surf music groups Musical groups from Los Angeles 1994 establishments in California