Surf rock

johnny_ruhbarb

Any strutters diggin on surf rock?Feel free to post som titles of good surf records.

Aaron

Agent Orange - Living In Darkness

johnny_ruhbarb

Thanks, but Agent orange is a littel to punk rock for my taste.
Im more into stuff like Dick dale, the ventures, the tremoloe beer gut.
But in genral i alost never find any surf records, and dont know that many surf artists.

HarveyCanal

Birdman!!!

Tell 'em how crucial Beyond from The Chantays is.

And tell 'em how they'll need to scoop up a copy of the Endless Summer soundtrack by the Sandals.

pickwick33

You should seek out the bands on the Del-Fi label, particularly the Lively Ones. Other good bands include the Pyramids, Dave Myers & the Surftones, Jim Messina & the Jesters, and the Duals. Some of this stuff crosses over from surf to straight instrumental rock, but it's a thin line anyway.

I like a lot of the Astronauts' stuff - as long as they're not singing. They recorded a grip of albums for RCA in the sixties. Their instrumentals like "Baja" are on the money.

A good series to seek out is Rare Surf on the AVI label, which ran like three or four volumes. Unfortunately, I believe it's out of print, but it may still turn up in the used stores cheap from time to time.

The Sundazed label has a few surf compilations in the stores as well - just yesterday I saw they had a series called something like Lost Legends Of Surf Guitar, or something similar. Personally, I've never heard any of the Sundazed comps, but this label is usually trustworthy.

DirtyBeatGuy

If yr looking for stuff a little left of the norm and more obscure - a great place to start is with the comp. Diggin' Out LP - on Mr. Manicotti. By far one of the best surf comps out there - should still be around online.

bonzaisk8

to list a few:


the blue stingrays

shig and buzz (from the UK)

laika and the cosmonauts

space cossacks (from the DC area)

blue hawaiians

the huntington cads

seks bomba

Link Wray (not really surf rock, but Rumble is the jam)

agent orange

the centurians

Dick Dale

and of course, the ventures.

street_muzik

Walk Don't Run. Great song. Surf Rock is

hcrink

the Trashmen

Birdman9

I wrote a long rambling entry on all this til the new time-out feature caught me off guard and erased it all!

so I will speak in jpg form with my recommendations

Must haves














The Avengers IV -Ice Cream Truck comp of their stuff


best vocal surf LP

Best Comp is indeed DIGGIN' OUT as mentioned earlier
could not find a jpeg!

I would stick to comps til you figure out what you like

also recommend this, for a Hot Rod overview





compiled from his own collection by Robt. Williams

johnny_ruhbarb

Thanks!

SPlDEY

- spidey

boast1

pickwick33

Just 'cause you play rock instrumentals doesn't make it surf...I wouldn't call Davie Allan that, but like Jay-Z sez up above, his music IS so necessary.

johnny_ruhbarb

Thanks for all the recommendations! keep em coming

Here is one from me, tjeck out this danish surf band``the tremolo beer gut`!

http://www.thetremolobeergut.dk/11_The_Tremolo_Beer_Gut_-_Theme_From_The_Beer_Hunter.mp3?12

http://www.thetremolobeergut.dk/03_The_Tremolo_Beer_Gut_-_Clayton's_Hotrod.mp3

http://www.thetremolobeergut.dk/10_The_Tremolo_Beer_Gut_-_Chinese_Spy.mp3

there??s more at the home page

boast1

you cant leave out

Lamont

Ten surf/garage tunes I like right now. Look out for that Istanbul break

boast1

Just 'cause you play rock instrumentals doesn't make it surf...I wouldn't call Davie Allan that, but like Jay-Z sez up above, his music IS so necessary.

youre right, just cause its instrumental rock doesnt make it surf. but i listen to moondog65, apache'65 etc and i hear surf ..but hey like you said it can be a thin line.

anyone into these guys?

The_Hook_Up

Im with Jimi hendrix on the issue of surf rock....listen to "third stone from the sun" and you will hear St. Jimi say "...and you will never have to hear surf music again"

Rockadelic

I searched many years for a spooky, eerie surf instrumental LP that overused echo and reverb....this is the closest I ever came to finding such an animal...Los Perdidos local New Jersey band with 500 pressed.....stoopid rare and stoopid good.

Birdman9

Im with Jimi hendrix on the issue of surf rock....listen to "third stone from the sun" and you will hear St. Jimi say "...and you will never have to hear surf music again"

I think he was talking about new surf bands.

To me Surf and Hot Rod music is about a time and place, VERY few new bands get it even partly right when they try to do it, it just seems so gimmicky. I mean, I appreciate what they are trying to do, and I think bands like Los Straightjackets are fun live, but I just don't hear a lot of great music coming outta those scenes. I did really like Untamed Youth back in the day, but they were one of the few who could pull off the whole ouvre well, and it was still corny as hell, but in a positive way. I don't know, I guess I am conflicted about it in a way.

I like rock and roll bands that have a distinct surf influence(like Radio Birdman had), but leave it at that.

pickwick33

Im with Jimi hendrix on the issue of surf rock....listen to "third stone from the sun" and you will hear St. Jimi say "...and you will never have to hear surf music again"

Listen to the Duals playing "Stick Shift" and you will never have to hear JIMI HENDRIX again. (BA-DUM-BUM!)

(And I LIKE Hendrix too, but it galls me when people dismiss all the rock guitar greats that came before him.)

To me Surf and Hot Rod music is about a time and place, VERY few new bands get it even partly right when they try to do it, it just seems so gimmicky. I mean, I appreciate what they are trying to do, and I think bands like Los Straightjackets are fun live, but I just don't hear a lot of great music coming outta those scenes.

I partially agree with you. The actual sixties bands weren't as narrow, and usually had some kind of R&B influence to balance it out. Dick Dale was even taking cues from world music - you can hear "Miserlou" for proof. But most of the newer surf bands really do miss the point in some way; every song they do features a guitar that sounds like a busted muffler. You know, the stereotype "brbrbbrbrbbrbrb" sound heard on "Pipeline." Or even worse, they approach it as if it were Martin Denny with a backbeat, playing it all precious like it was lounge music or something.

The hell of it is, Los Straitjackets are better and more versatile than the neo-surf bands I'm thinking of. This may be why they're still out there, and all those other jerkwater bands who appeared post-Pulp Fiction are all wiped off the slate.

Birdman9

Im with Jimi hendrix on the issue of surf rock....listen to "third stone from the sun" and you will hear St. Jimi say "...and you will never have to hear surf music again"

Listen to the Duals playing "Stick Shift" and you will never have to hear JIMI HENDRIX again. (BA-DUM-BUM!)

(And I LIKE Hendrix too, but it galls me when people dismiss all the rock guitar greats that came before him.)

To me Surf and Hot Rod music is about a time and place, VERY few new bands get it even partly right when they try to do it, it just seems so gimmicky. I mean, I appreciate what they are trying to do, and I think bands like Los Straightjackets are fun live, but I just don't hear a lot of great music coming outta those scenes.

I partially agree with you. The actual sixties bands weren't as narrow, and usually had some kind of R&B influence to balance it out. Dick Dale was even taking cues from world music - you can hear "Miserlou" for proof. But most of the newer surf bands really do miss the point in some way; every song they do features a guitar that sounds like a busted muffler. You know, the stereotype "brbrbbrbrbbrbrb" sound heard on "Pipeline." Or even worse, they approach it as if it were Martin Denny with a backbeat, playing it all precious like it was lounge music or something.

The hell of it is, Los Straitjackets are better and more versatile than the neo-surf bands I'm thinking of. This may be why they're still out there, and all those other jerkwater bands who appeared post-Pulp Fiction are all wiped off the slate.

I concur with everything you stated above.

Remind me to post a pic of my Dad's surf/show band from the early 60s, posing in front of a lake in Northern Wisconsin, posed on their Fender Twin amps with their Fender guitars.

pickwick33

Remind me to post a pic of my Dad's surf/show band from the early 60s, posing in front of a lake in Northern Wisconsin, posed on their Fender Twin amps with their Fender guitars.

Hey, Birdman, could you possibly post a pic of your father's surf/show band from the early 60s, posing in front of a lake, etc., etc.? (What was the name of the band, anyway? Any records?)

Birdman9

Remind me to post a pic of my Dad's surf/show band from the early 60s, posing in front of a lake in Northern Wisconsin, posed on their Fender Twin amps with their Fender guitars.

Hey, Birdman, could you possibly post a pic of your father's surf/show band from the early 60s, posing in front of a lake, etc., etc.? (What was the name of the band, anyway? Any records?)

Geez, I was gonna scan this in last night and I got busy with other shit. THIS WEEKEND, Pick.

His band was called J and the Tempests, and my uncle's band(my Mom's brother) had a show band called the Wellingtons, I might have some pics of them somewhere too, same era. No recordings I am afraid. All this was up in WI in a little burg about 45 minutes out of Green Bay called Oconto Falls. The kinda small town that was like a real-life Mayberry.

I won't forget!!

Swayze

Garagey-surf meets homebrew psych in the reverb chamber:

pickwick33

Remind me to post a pic of my Dad's surf/show band from the early 60s, posing in front of a lake in Northern Wisconsin, posed on their Fender Twin amps with their Fender guitars.

Hey, Birdman, could you possibly post a pic of your father's surf/show band from the early 60s, posing in front of a lake, etc., etc.? (What was the name of the band, anyway? Any records?)

Geez, I was gonna scan this in last night and I got busy with other shit. THIS WEEKEND, Pick.

I won't forget!!

Ah, it's cool, man! Didn't want to rush it! Take your time...

pickwick33

Garagey-surf meets homebrew psych in the reverb chamber:

I keep seeing this referred to as surf, but I vaguely remember a brief soundbite that didn't sound surfy at all.

I'm not doubting that some band could have put out a surf record as late as '68***, but some people (like record dealers) have a habit of describing any random white rock from the sixties as "surf" (except for psych). If the Index are surf, post a soundclip and prove it - feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
***note to those who aren't familar: a surf record from '68 is like a chicken-choking funk record from '87...not impossible, but highly unlikely, since they were too late to be current but too early to be revived
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Birdman9

Garagey-surf meets homebrew psych in the reverb chamber:

I keep seeing this referred to as surf, but I vaguely remember a brief soundbite that didn't sound surfy at all.

I'm not doubting that some band could have put out a surf record as late as '68***, but some people (like record dealers) have a habit of describing any random white rock from the sixties as "surf" (except for psych). If the Index are surf, post a soundclip and prove it - feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
***note to those who aren't familar: a surf record from '68 is like a chicken-choking funk record from '87...not impossible, but highly unlikely, since they were too late to be current but too early to be revived
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Neo-Surf from the 80s

Swayze

the Trashmen

yes! does anyone have any of their xmas songs? they have one original number that's particularly
also these ones for the pepsi next generation...

more garage, but in the same vein...

shadowy men on a shadowy planet

pickwick33

a surf record from '68 is like a chicken-choking funk record from '87...not impossible, but highly unlikely, since they were too late to be current but too early to be revived

Neo-Surf from the 80s

Well, you start seeing a lot of neo-surf records from the late-70's on, so that's no big thing. And the Raybeats weren't the only ones doing surf in the new wave era, either (Jon & the Nightriders, to name another example of many). But in 1968, probably the only place you were gonna find quality surf rock was in the bargain bin!!