I'm curious as to see what everybody else thinks of surf punk in general, I've read texts alluding to a mass contingent of surfers joining in the la punk scene's nuclease during the time frame of 79/80. At some point there where punk surf type hybrid bands like agent orange who often covered surf classics like misserlou. I must ask though what is everybody's opinion on the punk surf bands do you view them as trying out in just another sub-genre in the surf group or do think it deviates too much from the original surf rock style?

In general, it's not really my thing, but if people like both and want to try to combine them in new and interesting ways, more power to them. I don't think too many bands are successful at it to be honest.

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killbabykill34 wrote:

I think it is a terrible combination, personally.

With your long standing aversion to Punk music I totally understand Noah.

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Hahaha... There was quite a fun discussion on this topic a few weeks back on the Surf Guitar Appreciation Society Facebook group.

CrazyAces wrote:

killbabykill34 wrote:

I think it is a terrible combination, personally.

With your long standing aversion to Punk music I totally understand Noah.

Cheers,
Jeff

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Very valid points, Danny. And we have certainly found how easy it is to get caught in the trappings of fast tempos. However, we have always been a band that concentrated on melody, rather than just raw aggression. There is such thing as a healthy balance.

Nonetheless, this advice is also contingent on using the very narrow "four on the floor" definition of punk rock. And that certainly isn't the case for many of us that use the term in descriptions of our music. When we say we are punk influenced, it isn't the punk of The Ramones or the hardcore of Minor Threat... It is the "anything goes" of Fugazi...the experimentation of later day Black Flag...It is the quirkiness of Devo...It is the dissonance of Sonic Youth. And none of those bands/eras mentioned simply relied on fast tempos and/or aggression to carry their music. There was as much melody, structure variation, etc. to amount to much more.

DannySnyder wrote:

A couple thoughts. Nothing wrong with incorporating punk into your instro surf music. There are a few traps to be aware of, though exceptions are always to be found of course.

Punk songs tend to emphasize energy over melodies, which works because the lyrics usually take center stage. However we don't have lyrics, so to be a surf song you'll have to put more effort into developing a melody that can support an entire song.

Another issue is tempo. I like a fast song as much as anyone here, but I believe there's a limit to how many fast songs a surf band can group together in one set. I believe without a singer, ear fatigue will set in for most listeners and they'll lose their ability to differentiate songs and eventually lose interest. Also, I found that as I evolves as a player and develop more complex techniques and arrangements, I handicapped myself with the fast tempos. Fortunately my drummer came to the same conclusion as I did around the same time

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Last edited: Feb 16, 2016 09:31:43

Those are excellent points Danny.
In searching for cover songs my wife would suggest this or that Ramones song or Clash tune and I'd reply "Not enough melody, the vocal/melody is too monotone"
Melody is king, and also I'd agree that regardless of how fast or slow tempos are a band should be careful to have variances of fast, medium or slow tempo songs or as suggested - the audience will tire of the performance.

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Jeff

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I find no difference in musical choices especially if we are talking cover tunes but then I take a top 40 (circa 1960's-70's format) approach to music. I just pick songs that were hits or sound like they should have been hits.

I apply this algorithm to songs I hear both in reality and the ones that come out of my head that I make reality.

I blame it on 10 years of riding on the school bus for an hour and a half each day with CKLW blasting into my young impressionable ear drums. One minute you'd hear The Amboy Dukes and the next you'd hear Debbie Boone. Which left a deeper impression? Quien Sabe?

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Which band plays a cover of "Skulls" by the Misfits? That's pretty punky. Surf was often punk before punk, metal before metal. Just go with what appeals to you and hand in the balance between self-criticism and pure fun.

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Brian wrote:

JakeDobner wrote:

The punk music I know and love is different from the brand of punk music that punk surf/surf punk bands tend to incorporate. It is done well at times and is just lazily sloppy at others.

Yeah, I'll often get a link for a "surf band", but when I go check it out all I hear is "rarr-rarr-rarr-rarr-rarr". And then I see surf punk in their description/bio. I'm certainly no expert on punk, I grew up on the other side of the tracks (metal), but I don't hear any surf in some of the surf/punk bands. Other bands, like MoAM?, or KBK, I can.

Like others have said, you definitely need a melody for surf music, at least most of the time. Energy is good. Energy plus a great melody is even better.

I appreciate the compliment, Brian. And I do believe that many that claim "surf punk" suffer from the previously mentioned narrow definition of "punk". Even more, they are usually mediocre punk bands that just happen to throw some reverb drenched leads in.

I suppose the "surf punk" I enjoy is less "punk" or "surf" and more just music with blatant influences from both. And that usually comes through more in the backgrounds of the musicians than it does in the overall direction of the band.

As for The KBK and MOAM?...as well as quite a few others...We grew up in Punk rock...and more specifically(taking age into account) we grew up in the mid-late 80's, when "punk" had a pretty broad definition.

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I got into surf music by way of surf punk. I was a surf music denier for many years.

I'd say surf punk gave surf music a good old kick up the backside and brought many fans to the party.

The Dead Kennedys were not surf music, but their guitarist East Bay Ray was very influenced by surf music.

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