DAIZE SHAYNE – Live Your Dreams

Charlie don’t surf, but Daize Shayne does. Confused? Daize Shayne is a two-time longboard surfing champion, and has a long list of other surfing accomplishments to her name. The photogenic Shayne has modeled in magazines, and has also appeared in movies and TV shows.

Now, Shayne turns her attention to music with her debut album, Live Your Dreams. Elvis Presley played a surfer in the movie Blue Hawaii; if the King of Rock and Roll could be surfer, surely a surfer can be a singer!

Shayne is credited with co-writing 11 of the 12 songs – 15 on the import version – on Live Your Dreams, and handles guitars (with Ken Tamplin) and vocals. The 12th song on the album is a cover of Golden Earring’s “Radar Love,” which isn’t on the import version.

So what kind of music does a surfer write and play, anyway? If this album is any indication, it’s not Dick Dale-styled Surfer Rock with “out there” guitar lines that end up in Quentin Tarantino movies, but Pop-tinged Hard Rock with a strong commercial bend. All of the songs on Live Your Dreams are polished, catchy, and energetic in a radio-friendly way. It’s not Wuss Rock (far from it) or anything like that; this is certainly heavier and more enjoyable than anything “rockers” Sheryl Crow and Melissa Etheridge have done, or probably will ever do.

There’s some nice guitar work and a funky attitude on Live Your Dreams, which makes getting through the slower songs (of which there are a couple) more bearable. The riffs on Live Your Dreams won’t make Angus Young hang up his six-string, but they hit home most of the time.

As a singer, Shayne acquits herself nicely: while not a vocal powerhouse, she has a decent enough voice. Effects are used on her voice here and there, but it’s done well on songs like “Why Can’t You Understand Me,” which is one of the better tracks on the album. Shayne’s lyrics aren’t very deep, but for a Pop Rock album they do the trick, consisting mostly of uplifting “believe in yourself/don’t give up” stuff that’s easy to remember.

Shayne’s cover of “Radar Love” is fairly by-the-book and doesn’t deviate from the original too much, with the exception of some very slightly-altered lyrics in a couple of places. Still, it’s not a bad version of this old chestnut.

Live Your Dreams is a respectable debut for Daize Shayne: while it doesn’t hang a perfect 10 (out of 10), it’s bu no means a wipeout either. Surf’s up!