The instrumental boom of the early 1960s gripped Australia as fiercely as any nation. While it was principally allied to the surf culture that is an intrinsic part of coastal life downunder, the Aussie scene was as varied as anywhere else.

But rather than meekly imitate the Yanks (and Poms), local musicians took the instrumental form one step further, pushing the boundaries of fretboard excess to a level matched only by the Japanese in those years. Australian youth surfed and stomped to a soundtrack of frenetically twanged, strummed and reverberating Stratocasters, underpinned by rolling drums and a frequently urgent atmosphere.

It is a piercing, diamond-hard sound, personified by local heroes the Atlantics and their 1963 worldwide surf hit Bombora. There are other textures too - a touch of country, a lugubrious, quasi-Polynesian lilt - but the end result has a consistent and uniquely Australian flavour.

Until now, much of this music has remained an antipodean secret, but with Board Boogie some of its best examples, drawn from the impeccably-maintained master tape vault of Australia's first and largest independent label, Festival Records are presented.

These rare performances often showcase excellent musicianship and imaginative arrangements, and while the production work is occasionally crude, it merely adds to the overall effect (such as the downright terrifying atmosphere of Laurie Wade's The Phantom Guitarist).

Instrumental outfits were a basic constituent of the country's fledgling rock'n'roll scene right from the start, even if initially they were merely adjuncts to well-known singers like Col Joye and Johnny O'Keefe, but thanks to the tremendous and pervasive influence of the Shadows, from 1960 onwards Australia became the land of the electric guitar.

The focus in Board Boogie is upon self-penned material indigenous to Australia, although it also features unique, rip-roaring takes on standards such as Sabre Dance and Theme From Dr No. But it's instantly apparent that original tunes like Midnite Surfer, Cloudburst, Sandy The Surfin' Sandfly and Riptide are the equal of anything that US and UK combos were capable of offering up at the time - a fact their enthusiastic homegrown audience would have confirmed in a second.

1. Board Boogie - The Aztecs
2. Midnite Surfer - The Joy Boys
3. The Mean One - The Playboys
4. Sandy The Surfin' Sandfly - The Joy Boys
5. Jaywalker - The Fabulous Blue Jays
6. Swamped - The Joy Boys
7. Storm Warning - The Nocturnes
8. Panel Five - The Surf Riders
9. Gavotte Espresso - The Joy Boys
10. Twistin' Drums - The Dee Jays
11. Murphy The Surfie - The Joy Boys
12. Windansea - The Sunsets
13. Cloudburst - Laurie Wade's Cavaliers
14. (Theme From) The Ant Hill - The Joy Boys
15. Sabre Dance - The Playboys
16. Smoke & Stack - The Aztecs
17. Surf Carnival - The Resonets
18. Boots, Saddle & Surfboard - The Joy Boys
19. Expressway - The Vibratones
20. Riptide - The Nocturnes
21. Barbecue - The Dee Jays
22. The Phantom Guitarist - Laurie Wade's Cavaliers
23. Theme From Dr No - The Playboys
24. The Frolic - The Joy Boys
25. Prairie - The Nocturnes
26. The Desperadoes - The Playboys
27. Shorebreak - The Resonets
28. Standin' & Stompin' - The Joy Boys
29. Sunday Patrol - The Dee Jays
30. Adventures In Paradise - The Playboys