Hello to Summer and our June Playlist - Surfing the Small Waves

Since it’s almost the official start of summer, I thought what better way to celebrate than with a playlist of surf music!

 

This is not your dad’s surf music, however. Honestly, growing up I got tired of hearing the same oldies played over and over on the radio. The Beach Boys were obviously great musicians, but I figure that, like me, you can probably play Surfing U.S.A and Surfing Safari in your head without any outside assistance. So rather than compiling a list of well-known classics of the genre, I wanted to introduce you to some more modern (and underappreciated) practitioners of the surf rock genre. This playlist is also heavy on women, and includes a couple bands in regular rotation in my life, such as La Luz and Daddy Issues.  There are also several that are new to me, such as The Messer Chups, The Tijuana Panthers and Guantanamo Baywatch (which wins for best band name on this list.) There are also TWO songs about sea monsters, which is a sub-genre I never knew was missing from my life - Sex on the Beach is about a love affair with a creature of the deep, and Kelp Monsters is about, well, a Kelp Monster. There was an additional band - Bombón - that I wanted to include, but it was unfortunately not on Spotify, but I encourage you to look them up and buy their album, A Date with Bombón. It’s only $5 and it’s very surfy and very good.

I hope you enjoy the list and please, tell me what you think in the comments!