The first Frigidaires album Play it Cool was released on January 1st, 2024, so while we didn't have to wait long for that first good surf record of the year, I wasn't able to give it my full attention as I was consumed with holiday travel and Gremmy Season. Not the case here, though certainly not at an un-busy time (I'm trying my best to keep up with great releases!), Hot Vacation is not only poised before things get too Halloweeny, but it's had time for marinate for those that...Read more
Reviews
Post date: 09/24/2025 - 16:56
Sometimes being part of a local scene can raise your profile a bit, make sure the right people hear your stuff. I. Jeziak and the Surfers are, to my knowledge, the only Polish surf band at the moment, and yet they've managed to break out all the same, getting signed to the prestigious Hi-Tide label, and taking stage at Surfer Joe Summer Festival, and after this record, who knows? I suppose in surf music you can make a name for yourself by scraping for that one spot of originality nobody's...Read more
Post date: 09/24/2025 - 13:42
Los Straitjackets were, and perhaps still are, the biggest band in modern surf music, regularly finding their way onto large festival lineups that actual non-weird people went to and making several appearances on Conan O'Brien's show. And then... nothing changed. They continued playing, there were some health issues, but they never really quit. They released one album backing up...Read more
Post date: 09/12/2025 - 13:47
I have to be careful about stuff like this, as I'm an easy target for overproduced maximalist surf music. Trying to peel back the layers of this, naming and following the instruments, would require some notes and probably a little pausing and rewinding, and sometimes when there's so much of that to do it's hard to answer the simple question: are these memorable songs? I've had this record for a few weeks now and I still don't know, I'm still lost in the dense instrumentation,...Read more
Post date: 09/12/2025 - 11:16
The past month or two have been a rush of new surf music, many of them from long-standing names or on trusted labels. Sun Bus, hailing from Bethlehem, PA (outside Allentown), are decidedly neither of those things, but maybe this 6-song EP will change that. This isn't their first release, with a few 2-song releases dating back to December 2023, but this one is a statement. "8 Ball Shark" comes out shouting, with anthemic guitar lines pushed along by an energetic rhythm section. This isn't a...Read more
Post date: 09/11/2025 - 22:24
Every time I get a bandcamp notification with a new release from the mysterious William J Le Petomane on bandcamp, it elicits an "ooh!". And upon listening to this one I must confirm: "ooh!".
The description for this album suggests a marked increase in Mellotron usage. I didn't know much about the Mellotron, so I watched this short video. I'm not saying it's the most helpful video to learn about it, but it is the one you should watch.
...Read more
Post date: 08/08/2025 - 14:00
Hard to Fathom indeed. Even their 2007 release Fathomless felt like a gift after a 9 year gap, but 18 years later this feels much more notable, and for reasons. In 2017 there was a GoFundMe for lead guitarist Frankie Blandino. He had a case of Dupuytren’s Contracture, which causes your fingers to "...Read more
Post date: 07/23/2025 - 22:48
As was written, in 1994 Pulp Fiction was released to theaters, effectively attaching jumper cables to surf music. Not only did this give rise to countless new surf groups, but 60's acts found a new audience, which gave way to events like the one presented to us here: a recording of a 1995 gathering of surf greats at the Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach in 1995, organized in part by Paul Johnson (Bel-Airs and PJ and the Galaxies). It was truly a legendary night. I was ten years old, roughly...Read more
Post date: 07/23/2025 - 15:46
Magnatech is a solo project from John Verhoef that jumped out mid-pandemic with a steady stream of releases that now totals seven LPs five years on. Each release saw noticeable tweaks and tips learned along the way until he'd worked out a pretty signature sound. Perhaps in fear of painting himself into a corner, for 312 Magnatech Fans Can't Be Wrong, there's a bit of a reset on that sound, pulling the plug from the compressor in the signal chain, for a less in-your-face sound...Read more
Post date: 07/18/2025 - 13:50
One of the coolest things about the Surfguitar101 Festival is the burst of new releases occurring in advance of a band's appearance. For instance we've got fun LPs from The NovaRays...Read more
Post date: 06/28/2025 - 09:17
This blog has a pretty strict instrumental focus, so I'm bending the rules a bit to review the new Untamed Youth, as it only has four instrumentals. But they're such a legendary group that is essential to the story of surf revival, and it would be a shame to leave it off.
OK that's not really why. I want to focus on these instrumentals, as they're pretty excellent.
Alright, that's not really it either. I mostly just want to write about one song.
When...Read more
Post date: 06/27/2025 - 16:09
This band has been around for way too long for this to be their first LP, with EPs dating back to 20 years ago. While admittedly I'd never heard of them so I woudln't call this "long-awaited", it was certainly worth the not-wait. Very punchy, busy sound that can be just as much euro-instro or twistin'-oriented as surf but satisfyingly true to vintage sensibilities. A number of tracks feature a bit of a spaghetti-western gallop to them, though never quite slowing...Read more
Post date: 05/02/2025 - 10:34
I haven't done one of these for a while, but there have been a number of records I've wanted to make sure people heard lately, so now's a great time for a slew of mini-reviews! I'm going to try to limit myself to ~5 sentences per band, partially because I want to actually publish this on Bandcamp Friday, and also because I miss writing reviews in little nuggets like that.
Oh wait, what is Bandcamp Friday? It's a day (today) when Bandcamp doesn't take a cut of what...Read more
Post date: 04/30/2025 - 13:52
Frankie and the Pool Boys' first record was kind of a kitchen-sink record, with Ferenc Dobronyi on guitar, Jeff Turner on bass, Dusty Watson on drums, and a bunch of friends on the other guitars and additional whatever. Then they became a real band with an established lineup for two great LPs. And now we've got back to the start with Endless Drummer, a Poolboys record with a different drummer on every track, not to mention a bunch of other friends joining in.
And this...Read more
Post date: 04/20/2025 - 19:53
Things have been relatively quiet for one of the loudest groups in surf. While Arno has snuck in a few small EPs, it's been 4 years since the last entry in the Retrofuturisme series/their last LP. But I'd say the extra time has paid off.
For the uninitiated, ADC&TCW play apocalyptically loud surf that may owe as much to groups like Hot Snakes or Refused* than your typical surf fare, though Arno's CV with bands like Stef&Arno and The Irradiates demonstrate plenty of knowledge...Read more
Post date: 04/11/2025 - 14:22
The only artist on Bandcamp for whom I've clicked the "Buy digital discography" button is not a surf artist, but Estonian composer/producer/whatever Misha Panfilov. When I first came across his work it was mostly raw funk with a spacey element to it, and I've since appreciated his meanderings into jazz, ambient, and warbly synths. I almost always enjoy it, usually love it. One of his projects is Penza Penza, whose first album is some of the noisiest, stripped-down primal funk I've heard....Read more
Post date: 04/10/2025 - 14:26
Earlier this year, entire neighborhoods of the Los Angeles area were burned down from wildfires. You know this, I have nothing particularly insightful to add to this, but I am from a very disaster-prone area (New Orleans) and I can relate. There's a lot going on in the world and particularly the US right now, and it feels like the news has moved on to more recent matters. One thing I know from previous hurricanes, oil spills, etc. that I've seen, is that gestures of care and attempts to help...Read more
Post date: 12/12/2024 - 07:16
BASK IN THE GLORY OF SURF MUSIC!
This is an annual attempt to list everything that could reasonably be called surf music within this year. It's never perfect for many reasons, but it's always a very nice way to demonstrate that surf music is very much alive and well. Last year I had this as a list that was viewable throughout the year, I meant to do that this year but here we are in December!
There are a few notes and rules:
- I don't include ...Read more
Post date: 10/04/2024 - 09:11
It's been a thrill watching the trajectory of The Surfrajettes. Surprise youtube viral hit, then touring surf conventions, a few 7"s on Hi-Tide, and then a really fun debut LP. That was when I last wrote about them, and I felt that all the statements they needed to make were made, nothing left to prove. But I'm used to writing about bands that live in the surf realm. The Surfrajettes are one of the few legit instrumental surf groups that have managed to move beyond that, going on tours...Read more
Post date: 10/03/2024 - 14:38
I don't think The Rumtones are out here trying to rewrite what Surf is. They're here to play loud, put on a good show, provide some music that will make you feel amped. It works, and if everybody tried to do things differently in surf, there wouldn't be enough of this stuff to enjoy. So I forgive them for the questionable move of having a self-titled record in 2024 when they already had one in 2022. I don't mind that there's a few songs on both records. They're rerecorded and sound better on...Read more
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