Sound Check

Where else but Boca Raton's Surf Cafe would you expect to find the funk-rock trio Camel Toe this Thursday night? "Surf This" -- a standout single on their self-titled debut CD -- is a two-and-a-half minute, surf-inspired romp that has J.P. Ferris' guitar echoing Dick Dale in his prime, Doug White spitting satirical lyrics about surfers' territorialism, and drummer Oscar Galvao holding the slam-danceable, laugh-out-loudable track together.

"We definitely wanted to concentrate on doing humorous stuff," White, a surfer, says of Camel Toe. "We wanted to keep it light, stay away from the stressed-girlfriend scenarios and rage-against-the-political-machines stuff. We wanted to keep things light vocalwise and lyricwise."

Also keeping the Fort Lauderdale band's material light is their use of blues-riffing guitars and thumping bass lines on instrumental tracks. Three of the eight songs on the disc are without lyrics (unless a sexy, come-hither female voice cooing, "I like it like that" on "Hump" is considered lyrical).

"We mixed it up because we're all of the opinion that when you see a band and you like what they're doing, sometimes, halfway between the set, the singer can be annoying," says White. "That's why we mix it up -- to add a little bit of diversity to the set."

The band plays just a few local venues a month, opting instead for showcase events, like corporate parties, and stints at Fort Lauderdale live-rock havens, such as Dastardly's and Roxy. "We don't saturate the fans [in order] to keep the interest up between shows," White explains.

But when they do perform original songs -- which White says "will carve a smile on your puss, all the while keeping your toes a-tappin'" -- a sense of humor is appreciated. Audiences are treated to the sounds of flatulence, sexy propositions, babies crying, and plane-crash victims screaming during songs like "Fast Food Drive-Thru," which features these lyrics: "Cheeseburger, Quarter Pounder, Whopper, and fries, it's a drive-thru funeral where everybody dies/Egg McMuffin, apple pie, fried chicken, too, your arteries will constipate with blood-clotting goo."

Camel Toe will be one of a handful of acts performing at the CD-release party for another Fort Lauderdale band, Blonde Enuff, at Surf Cafe Thursday, June 25. The band will also perform at Roxy Friday, July 17.

To contact Camel Toe, call 561-392-3947. The band's CD is available at Peaches in Boca Raton and at www.drumnetwork.com. on the Internet. The band's Web address is http://cameltoe.iuma.com.