Frankie and the Pool Boys

Frankie and the Pool Boys have become one of the most respected and well known groups of Surf Music’s “Third Wave.” The band that started as a side project for members of Pollo Del Mar in 2007, continues to create new music and tour. Their most recent release, a 7” vinyl single on Hi-Tide Recordings, recorded by Boss Martian/Sonics guitarist Evan Foster, features “The Stargazers” and “Breathing Your Air.”

In May of 2021, Double Crown Records released a 27 track anthology album called “The Wet Season,” and in June, Hi-Tide Recordings released a single, “Percolator. ” A video shot during the band’s Mexican tour was created to support “Percolator.”

 The Pool Boys got together in 2007 as an offshoot project of San Francisco’s legendary progressive psychedelic band, Pollo Del Mar. Leader Ferenc Dobronyi wanted to focus on more accessible, 60s flavored dance music. The early membership drew the best players of S.F.’s surf music scene, before solidifying into its current lineup in 2015. Dobronyi remains the band leader and chief songwriter with Jono Jones (Pollo Del Mar) on guitar, Karen Dobronyi (Meshugga Beach Party) on keyboards, with Jeff Turner (PB and Jam, Kool Whip, Pollo Del Mar) on bass and Eric Ruel (Drifting Sand) on drums.

“The Wet Season” is an anthology of the bands’ first three albums, with four new songs added, including their spaghetti-western take on the “Game of Thrones” theme. The album has 27 songs and clocks in at 79+ minutes, with extensive liner notes by surf music historian John Blair and original art by Fred Lammers.

With the “Percolator” digital download, the Pool Boys returned to the Hi-Tide Recordings label, who had previously released the “Ewa on the Beach / Tan Line Fever” 7” single in 2018. In 2016, the listeners of North Sea Surf Radio voted “Ewa on the Beach” the third most popular song in their modern surf category. Frankie and the Pool Boys are rehearsing a new set of original material with a hopeful release date in early 2022.

Frankie and the Pool Boys started out as a recording project band, with no intentions of playing live. The idea was to get together some of the best surf musicians from around the world, so the first and second albums featured performances by Rock’n’Roll Hall of Famer Bob Spalding (The Ventures), Shigeo Naka (The Surf Coasters), John Blair (Jon & the Nightriders), Dusty Watson (The Sonics, Dick Dale), Ivan Pongracic (The Space Cossacks, The Madeira), Dave Wronski (Slacktone), David Arnson (Insect Surfers), Danny Snyder (The TomorrowMen), Jonpaul Balak (Tikiyaki Orchestra), Naotaka Seki (The Surf Coasters) and many more.