After 8 years as a band without so much of an EP to their name, Luau or Die went ahead and made TWO EPs in 2015, almost entirely originals. It's fun, adventurous, and has a good helping of swagger to it. Give it a list, and while you're at it you can check out Vol. 1

Iowa's biggest surf act (probably by default, but by merit too) just dropped a nice live record. The sound is clean, better than plenty of studio albums I've heard. The songs seem to be all over the back catalog, a great place to start if this is your first introduction to the Surf Zombies.

The digital download is nice and cheap, but they've also got a CD that you can buy.

13th Magic Skull's last record "Sungazing in Rapa Nui" was a huge surprise hit last year. I gave it an honorable mention for a Gremmy and definitely gave it a lot of thought for the big prize. They've just got so much punch that I'm always surprised when I give it another listen and hear a pretty pure surf sound. I'm expecting to hear some punk cues for the amount of energy they bring to the table, but they don't need it!

Before we do anything here, I'd like to recognize The Special Edisons for calling an 8-song album an EP. I feel like 8 songs is becoming the norm for an album this year, and they're acknowledging that that's short!

The Special Edisons (not a typo) hail from Calgary, which is funny because the first thing that came to mind was Huevos Rancheros. No shared members, I checked, they're a 3-piece with a ragged, dry, and distorted guitar tone. It's rough and tumble ranch rock, and there's not a slow number in the bunch. Fun stuff!

At this point I've been doing this radio show in New Orleans for about 5 years, and in that time very few listeners have come to the obvious conclusion that they should start a surf band. So I was overcharged with excitement when I was shown a youtube video from a frequent listener of their new band Ghost Coast. A few days later, there's even a demo up on bandcamp!

The only surf band I can think of with America in its name is from Madrid, Spain. Sure, why not?

Surfing Way is a light-hearted walk through many different familiar sounds in the surf world: straight up surf, drag racing, spaghetti western, fuzz, etc. It's easy-going and sounds nice and vibrant.

Should I post demos as releases? Yes, because I'm digging this. Blackball Bandits clearly have a Western angle to them evidenced in their (great) medley of Ennio Morricone classics, but it also evokes the west in that wide-open-road way on "Azteca Verano", AND in the Roswell, New Mexico way on their opening track. It's got a great mean edge to it that sometimes reminds me of Speedball Jr, though maybe that's just name association. A lot of disparate sounds coming together naturally and sensibly and, most importantly, enjoyably.

Holy misdirection Batman! Not that I think all instrumental groups should religiously adhere to the agreed upon surf style guide, the cover of this album looks like it could be going for an El Perro Del Mar vibe (and a lot of guitarist Jeffrey Bützer's other work makes sense in that realm). Even the name of the band and album, though fun, does nothing to cause a blip on my surf radar.

For us English speakers, I believe the band name translates to Thieves of Guitars. This is their debut album, and self-recorded, and the result is a pretty easy-going modern-trad surf record with some glimpses of spaghetti western. Give it a listen!

Mom's I'd Like to Surf may hold the crown for goofiest surf band name, and seeing what might even be a Resident on the cover can make you think "hooo boy, where's this going?". As it turns out, the goofy cover art is mostly just that; this is still comfortably within the surf realm. That's not to say it doesn't have some quirks to it.