This category is for albums that are unmistakably surf, but would not be mistaken for vintage. This was a tough category this year and it was tough choosing a winner. A lot of these were also really pushing the envelope, and it was hard to decide what belongs here and what belongs in the Way-Out Instro category.

This is my own terminology for surf music that's more punk-influenced, with a focus on speed and force before anything else. I like it because it rhymes with Trad. It's not necessarily about who's the loudest and the fastest as much as it's about who's the best at being loud and fast.

After 50 years, surf music has morphed and evolved in many ways, but some groups strive to tap into the sound and feeling that it all came from back in the early 60's.

I’ve heard a lot of great surf records behind terrible album art, but some good art can not only draw you in but shape your listening experience. And in a style of music that is so attached to kitschy paraphernalia, it’s interesting to see how bands can either harness or subvert those associations to stand out and even shape instro culture.

While I love doing the Gremmy Awards, I hate that so much weighs on my own quirky opinions. Every year there are some great records that don't make the lists but that I genuinely enjoyed, and that feels like a snub. So I started asking a few other people to help out, spread out to different point of views. People that I know are very involved in surf, are following new releases closely, but don't have a platform of their own to espouse their opinions. Three surf nuts from all over the globe have stepped forward. I've given them full reign on how they want to do it.

There are some things that deserve recognition other than just the albums themselves. This is the category where I get to spill out the rest of those observations. These categories change year to year.

This is the stuff that doesn't seem to fit into any other category. The stuff staking out a sound of their own. Not always difficult listening, but definitely fresh.

What is "Rad instro"? Well, I made it up, mostly because "Rad" rhymes with "Trad". There are other words you could use: "aggro" or in the college radio world there's "loud". This is the instro music that's all about power, speed and adrenaline.

Honorable Mentions

Los Tiros - Expertos En Cagarla

If you go on bandcamp and sort by the "surf" tag, you may not recognize what you find. A bunch of garage bands, most of them with vocals. Meanwhile, a lot of modern instrumental bands cringe a bit when their music is compared to the product of a 60's cultural explosion in California. But there are some groups that are proud torch-bearers of that time. Not looking to reinvent the wheel, but rather recapture a lost art. These are the groups that did it best this year.

Every year the Gremmy Awards gather up and sort out the best of all the surf/instro releases. This prestigious award (a .png file for you to right-click-save-as) is only given to one band (or entity) per category, though there can be any number of Honorable Mentions. There's no real criteria except my own personal nitpicks, biases, and whims -- no voting committee. However, towards the end we'll have a few Guest Gremmys.

Here are the categories.