By When it comes to music, there is plenty of talk about which genres are dead or not. Claims such as “punk is dead” and “hip-hop is dead,” come naturally for the respective genre’s aficionado that can’t get over the music’s “golden days.”
With that being said, there are many musical styles I feel aren’t “dead,” but rather forgotten by the masses. A sound that once hit American airwaves like a surfer getting wiped out was — take a big hint — surf music.
Surf music has made a solid return, and it’s exciting for the genre’s enthusiasts; however, I doubt it is here to stay for long.
Genres come and go in waves — and surf, with its profound connection to the beach, has been known to make an impact on the music scene and recede back into its home. I have no doubt that the current surf-craze will become a thing of the past fairly soon.
It was the early 1960s, and the American music charts regularly included hits from a band I consider the pioneering agent that made surf music what it is today – The Beach Boys.
The catchy hooks, impressive guitar riffs and fast drums were all factors that made the beachy sound so popular at the time; up until then, mainstream music was rather conservative and uniform. The surf genre provided a rebellious sound for the time.
Not to mention, The Beach Boys inspired a global rage which influenced the emergence of more bands with a similar sound.
Americans — especially those living along the Californian coast — were doing the “surfer stomp” to tunes like “Surfin’ U.S.A” and The Beach Boys were on the verge of becoming international superstars. That is, until The Beatles arrived onto the music scene.
When The Beatles introduced the world to their pop-rock sound, the masses left the emerging surf genre behind. Yet, the sound didn’t completely fade out and has recently seen a gnarly comeback.
Surprisingly, the same sound that once drew the masses away from surf music is what is -bringing it back. One prime example is the pop-rock band The Drums’, deemed “one of indie pop’s most promising bands” by Stuart Berman for online music magazine Pitchfork, experimentation with surf music.
Their 2010 single, “Let’s Go Surfing,” features a distinct surf sound, and has been played millions of times on music service Spotify. The significance of this is that people are very interested in the classic beachy themes of the surf music genre.
With that said, the surf-inspired sounds of The Drums are far from anything Dick Dale, another surf music pioneer, has put out — although there are plenty of similarities between the two musical acts.
I want to say that the majority of new-age bands experimenting with surf music have definitely added their own touch to the sound. Best Coast, whose music is defined as “beach music” by contact reporter Randall Roberts in an LA Times review of their latest studio album, has gained a lot of popularity for what some might call “beachy” guitar-pop.
However, referring to a band’s sound as “beachy” is just a way of beating around the bush and avoiding to label the music as “surf.” Is there a beach-genre? No. Is there a surf-genre? Yes. Reviewers and fans of bands like Best Coast may be hesitant to deem the band a surf act in fear of offending any old-timers obsessed with The Beach Boys’ gilded age.
As reported by Kerri Mason for an article on Best Coast’s unexpected rise to fame, their debut LP “Crazy For You,” entered the Billboard 200 chart at number 36. Moreover, it debuted at number 10 on Billboard’s digital albums chart.
Clearly, this generation appreciates some light-hearted vocals and surfy-guitar riffs. People like surf music and, based on the numbers, are buying the records heavily-influenced by the genre.
Sold-out music festivals with surf-bands headlining the events are further proof that the music is gaining some serious popularity again. Goes to show, these bands aren’t just making hits for Spotify-listeners, they have a real presence at high-profile festivals.
The Growlers whose sound is labeled as “beach goth” by Eric Swedlund for Paste Magazine, have created an annual music festival named exactly that: Beach Goth. The festival which has sold out the past two times it’s been held — features plenty of bands with a distinct surf sound
For instance, Weezer, a rock band which some surf-enthusiasts consider to be a surf-band because of songs like, “Island in the sun” and “Surf Wax America,” headlined one year at The Growlers’ music fest.
So has surf-music made a comeback? In essence, yes — but it’s return can almost be deemed a musical fad.
It’s not that I’m being a pessimist — I’m being a realist. Certain bands that initially had a heavy-surf influence are already giving up the sound in pursuit of non-beachy rhythms.
The “beachy” sound Best Coast was initially known for is barely heard on their latest studio album, “California Nights.”
The exact same can be said about The Growlers’ latest single “City Club.”
Moreover, Beach Goth was once filled with a variety of surf-acts — like the up-and-coming Tijuana Panthers, who MTV deemed a “lo-fi fusion of surf, garage rock, and punk” — but now the festival sees a wide variety of non-surf musical acts. For example, this year’s festival includes performances from rapper Gucci Mane and even a DJ set by the electronic music duo Justice.
Is surf music here to stay? Probably not. Let’s take advantage of this momentous occasion and do the “surfer stomp” before these bands ditch their beachy sound. Surf’s up, Long Beach.
