Maybe it’s the winter, or the boredom of months long unemployment, but I am finding surf music much more fun and appealing than I used to.
I have about a dozen tunes from Dick Dale, a half dozen each from the Surfaris and the Ventures. Most of these are “greatest hits” like Pipeline and Wipeout and Miserlou. I have another dozen or so from various groups that seem “surf-like” to me: the Peter Gunn theme, a couple of Ramones tunes. I was kinda surprised how few Beach Boys songs had a surf vibe.
I just found a song called Guitar Noire by the Aqua Velvets which I like almost as much as the names.
Help me find more groups and songs to build my collection.
Lot’s to choose from in the Neo-surf canon. Los Straightjackets, The Bomboras, The Aqualads, the Phantom Surfers, and the Hodaddy’s just to name a few. Some of the early Untamed Youth was really surfy, as well as the Boss Martians earlier stuff. If you have access to itunes, just search for Surf, and you will find all kinds of old and new bands still putting stuff out.
A band that definitely went to school on Dick dale, as well as Webb Pierce and Hank Williams is Southern Culture on the Skids, you should really check them out.
Moon Dawg - Beach Boys Never Give Up - Common Sense (more of a surf/reggae hybrid, but with a classic Telecaster solo) Endless Summer Theme - Sandals Baja - The Astronauts El Aguila - The Astronauts
And yes, I have iTunes, but I’m hoping someone will help me avoid the dross and point me toward specific groups, as you have – and thanks!
Now I need to find out what Neo-Surf is. I hope it’s nothing like Neo-Nazi. I do remember Surf Nazis Must Die. I would hope Neo-Surf Neo-Nazies do the same.
Nah, Neo-Surf was a named my friend coined to talk about the new bands putting out great surf music. You are totally safe there;)
Also, check out The Meltones, The Supertones, the Tikitones (definitely a theme here), The Mermen, Man or Astro Man? and The Barracudas.
Have fun!
Edited to add…Southern Culture on the Skids is a bit of an acquired taste, but once it gets the hooks in you it’s all over. You have been warned!
Note that “new bands” in surf is a relative term; some of these have been around for twenty years and gone through considerable evolution in their sound.
Thanks for that, and although Boyo Jim mentioned “Pipeline”, I believe he was referencing the *Ventures *version. I would like to take this moment to state that the original Chantays version is a must-have, and in my opinion, superior to the Ventures version.
**yanceylebeef ** and the other posters appear to be steering you well, **Boyo **- I have some exposure to some of those bands and they are good. The Mermen are an instrumental surf band out of the Bay Area I think and really good.
I gotta check a few out - I have never dug into Southern Culture… but have read about them enough to be curious…
How about the Cramps? Far too pale & urban to be convincing surfers, their sound was definitely in the surf groove. However, too close a perusal of their lyrics will endanger your sanity…
The album that started my interest in surf rock was the compilation Big Waves. It’s an excellent nearly all-instrumental album that includes both '60s classics and newer surf rock (such as the previously mentioned “Guitar Noir” and a great spacy number by the Vanduras (“La Planche”).
80 or so surf rock albums later, my favorites in the genre are the Aqua Velvets, Los Straitjackets, the Mermen, and Laika and the Cosmonauts (the latter is a Finnish group that totally rocks).
Add Jan and Dean to the mix. They only had two or three hit singles with a specifically surfing theme, but were significant contributors to the genre’s broader ethos.
Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet. All instrumental stuff, really great sound too. They do have a song called “We’re Not A F*cking Surf Band” (or something like that), but they have that silvertone-y vibe. If you ever watched Kids in the Hall, they did the music for that including the theme song.
This site is a good place to look. Also, while it is out of print and very expensive these days, looking at Rhino Record’s “Cowabunga!” box set shows a good overview of the bands.
