quote:

Originally posted by Duncan Black:
OK, my taste in Surf rock is really cheesey, but what the hell. Not all of these are strictly surf rock, some of them aren't instrumentals, but they have THAT sound -

Duane Eddy - 'Theme from Peter Gunn'
Dick Dale and his Deltones - 'Misirlou'
Anything by the Cramps (OK not quite surf, but similar)
Anything by the Beach Boys

Mr Bungle - 'Carry Stress in the jaw part 2'*
Mr Bungle - 'None of them knew they were robots'*

*file under 'surf-rock for metal bozos'

Additional - There's an amazing compilation album called 'Wavy Gravy' totally devoted to this sort of thing. There's an instrumental track called 'Bumble Bee 65' which features surf guitar and kazoo - I love that one. Every track on the album is complemented by a trashy advert from grindhouse/exploitation cinema. It's one of the coolest albums I've ever heard.

This is a good thread. There's not enough surf rock debated here.

quote:

Originally posted by crazed:

quote:

Originally posted by Duncan Black:
OK, my taste in Surf rock is really cheesey, but what the hell. Not all of these are strictly surf rock, some of them aren't instrumentals, but they have THAT sound -

Duane Eddy - 'Theme from Peter Gunn'
Dick Dale and his Deltones - 'Misirlou'
Anything by the Cramps (OK not quite surf, but similar)
Anything by the Beach Boys

Mr Bungle - 'Carry Stress in the jaw part 2'*
Mr Bungle - 'None of them knew they were robots'*

*file under 'surf-rock for metal bozos'

Additional - There's an amazing compilation album called 'Wavy Gravy' totally devoted to this sort of thing. There's an instrumental track called 'Bumble Bee 65' which features surf guitar and kazoo - I love that one. Every track on the album is complemented by a trashy advert from grindhouse/exploitation cinema. It's one of the coolest albums I've ever heard.

This is a good thread. There's not enough surf rock debated here.

Definitely need more surf discussion! When you mentioned "surf rock", it made me recall some surf instrumental fanantics I know. Their claim is that "surf" is instrumental and nothing but instrumental. They add that any music with influences and sounds from surf but with vocals is of another genre altogather. So, they strongly deny the existence of "surf rock". For these die-hard surfaholics, Beach Boys is California pop, Cramps are psychobilly or post-rock, and um, never ever ever mention Jack Johnson to them.

Myself, I like the "surf vocal" term. Maybe the lyrics deals with surfing or its lifeystle. Maybe the music is infused with or contains a riff pertaining to surf instrumental. CD Baby categorizes surf as "surf rock" and tosses surf instrumental in with vocal artists who range from Beach Boys-like to Cramps-like to (yuccck!) influenced by Jack Johnson. Surf rock, for them also includes those new-age/sound effects cds of ocean waves gently easing into the shore(!!!!).

My favorite modern surf vocal tracks have influences from the Beach Boys or the Ramones. The Surfin' Lungs are an excellent band who excel at performing mostly surf vocals. A few '90s surf instrumental bands went the vocal path in this decade and took on garage rock (though upon hearing a couple of these groups, I thought them better when they kept their mouth shut).

Glad to see Duane Eddy mentioned. Both he and Link Wray pre-dated the surf instrumental age and were heavy influences of the early '60s surf artists.

I also have the "Wavy Gravy" comp, and it is very cool. The Motions' "Bumble Bee 65" is the best version of the Ventures song I've heard. A fun album, I wish they'd picked more old surf songs and given them a trashy, fuzzy treatment.

quote:

Originally posted by Duncan Black:

There are two things I cannot resist.

One is the sound of a massively crunchy heavy metal guitar.

The other is the sound of a chord played with depressed tremolo arm gradually raised, using clean tone and HUGE reverb.

Is it OK to love thrash metal and surf guitar in equal measure?

I find both guitar styles to be wildy self indulgent, like a fattening chocolate cake or a nasty takeaway. They feel good, but unhealthy - like all the best things in life.

It's worth learning to play guitar just so you can make both noises mentioned above.

Hours of fun.