The Centurions

by Richie UnterbergerThe Centurions would just be another face in the early-60s surf music crowd if not for the 1994 film smash Pulp Fiction, which plucked the groups Bullwinkle Part II out of obscurity for the soundtrack. Formed in the Newport Beach area of Southern California in the late 50s, the group did some recordings for the Shepherd and Del-Fi label, of which Bullwinkle Part II, with its spooky, trebly bass and lead guitars, was the best. The band also cut some decent, if mostly generic, other sides for Del-Fi, powered by both guitars and raunchy saxes; the best of them, like Bullwinkle Part II, made good use of minor melodies, reverb guitar, and throbbing bass lines.