Line #15 Main/SurfRock


1	->''Surf music is actually just the sound of the waves played on a guitar: that wet, splashy sound.''
2	-->-- '''Music/DickDale'''
3
4	Surf Rock is what California sounds like.
5
6	Or, to be more specific: surf rock is a genre of RockAndRoll associated with [[SurferDude surf culture]], which originated in TheSixties in Southern UsefulNotes/{{California}}.
7
8	Surf rock comes in two flavours, instrumental and vocal. Both versions are centred around some common traits, such as electric guitars using "wet"-sounding spring reverb [[note]]Earlier examples, including Dick Dale were recorded without reverb, but most were.[[/note]] (''the'' central defining characteristic of surf music, arguably), vibrato and tremolo, driving rhythms, and in the case of vocal surf rock, doo-wop inspired vocal harmonies. While surf rock generally stuck to the guitar-bass-drums line-up and used some very specific guitar models (they loved the Fender, Mosrite, Teisco and Danelectro brands), there was occasional use of other instruments such as keyboards or saxophone. Notably, surf rock was one of the first genres to universally adopt the electric bass.
9
10	Surf rock was incredibly popular between 1961-1965, the period from which originated its iconic songs such as "[[OlderThanTheyThink Misirlou]]", "Let's Go Trippin'", "Pipeline", "Wipe Out", "Surfin' USA", "Fun, Fun, Fun" and others. Another label applied to some of these bands, who played songs about fast cars rather than surfing, was "hot rod rock". The genre's popularity was effectively killed by UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion starting in 1964, with the only group that survived being Music/TheBeachBoys, who despite their association weren't really a SurfRock band.
11
12	However, the genre proved very influential on several other rock bands, such as Music/TheWho, Music/DeadKennedys and Music/ThePixies. It underwent a revival thanks to the use of several of its songs in Creator/QuentinTarantino's ''Film/PulpFiction'' (most famously, "Misirlou" and "Bullwinkle Part II"), and new surf bands have appeared lately such as Man or Astro-man?, The Mermen and Los Straitjackets.
13
14	A good argument can be made that what we know as "spy movie music" borrows a lot from surf rock and just uses a lot more minor keys (case in point; the ''Film/JamesBond'' electric guitar theme, or the ''Series/PeterGunn'' theme).
15	----
16	[[index]]
17	Instrumental surf rock bands:
18	* Music/TheAstronauts ("Baja")
19	* Music/TheAtlantics ("Bombora") - Australian band, one of the few non-American surf rock bands.
20	* [[Music/TheBelAirs The Bel-Airs]] ("Mr. Moto") - the group later split into The Challengers and Eddie and the Showmen
21	* Music/TheCenturions ("Bullwinkle Part II", "Intoxica")
22	* Music/TheChallengers
23	* Music/TheChantays ("Pipeline")
24	* Music/TheDakotas ("The Cruel Sea") - Billy J. Kramer's band, another one of the non-American bands.
25	* [[Music/DickDale Dick Dale and His Del-Tones]] ("Let's Go Trippin'", "Misirlou")
26	** ''Music/SurfersChoice'' (1962)
27	* Music/EddieAndTheShowmen
28	* Music/TheFrogmen ("Underwater")
29	* Music/TheLivelyOnes ("Surf Rider")
30	* Music/TheRevels ("Church Key", "Comanche")
31	* Music/TheSentinals ("Latin'ia")
32	* Music/TheSurfaris ("Wipe Out")
33	* Music/TheTornadoes ("Bustin' Surfboards") - not to be confused with the British band of "Telstar" fame, although they later renamed themselves the Hollywood Tornadoes to avoid said confusion.
34	* Music/TheVentures ("Walk Don't Run") - not exactly a surf band (they only recorded one album with surfing in mind), but often thought of as one, and their hits are mainstays of surf groups' repertoires.
35
36	Vocal surf rock bands:
37	* Music/TheBeachBoys: From 1961 to 1964 only, although Mike Love [[Horrible/{{Music}} (rather unsucessfully)]] brought the band back to that genre in the early Nineties:
38	** 1962 - ''Music/SurfinSafari''
39	** 1963 - ''Music/SurfinUSA''
40	** 1963 - ''Music/SurferGirl''
41	** 1963 - ''Music/LittleDeuceCoupe''
42	** 1964 - ''Music/ShutDownVolume2''
43	** 1964 - ''Music/AllSummerLong''
44	** 1992 - ''Music/SummerInParadise''
45	* Music/TheFantasticBaggys ("Tell 'Em I'm Surfin'")
46	* Music/TheHondells ("Little Honda")
47	* Music/JanAndDean ("Surf City")[[note]]Equally renowned for their ''hod rod rock'' - see ''Dead Man's Curve'', ''Drag City'' and ''The Little Old Lady from Pasadena''[[/note]]
48	* Music/BruceJohnston
49	** 1963 - ''Music/SurfinRoundTheWorld''
50	* Music/TheRivieras ("California Sun")
51	* Music/TheSuperStocks
52	* Music/TheTrashmen ("Surfin' Bird")
53
54	Revivalist surf rock bands:
55	* Music/BestCoast
56	* Music/BlueHawaiians
57	* Music/DazeyAndTheScouts
58	* Music/DengueFever
59	* Music/TheEliminators
60	* Music/{{FIDLAR}}
61	* Music/JackJohnson
62	* Music/KingCharles
63	* Music/LosStraitjackets
64	* Music/TheMermen
65	* Music/ManOrAstroMan
66	* Music/MeshuggahBeachParty, who have dedicated themselves to proving that traditional Jewish melodies work alarmingly well as SurfRock
67	* Music/ShadowyMenOnAShadowyPlanet (who were so annoyed by this categorisation they wrote a tune called "We're Not a Fucking Surf Band")
68	* Music/{{Skegss}}
69	* Music/SmashMouth
70	* Music/{{Sublime}} has a few surf rock songs, notably "Paddle Out"
71	* Music/SunRoom
72	* Music/{{Tennis}}
73	* Music/{{Wallows}}
74	* Music/TheZiggens
75
76	And, to top it all off, even the Muppets have once made an album with a lot of surf rock:
77	* ''Music/MuppetBeachParty'' (1993)

Context Main / SurfRock