Remember that one time I said I wasn't going to get too into niche genres? Well, I lied. The weather is starting to get nice and as such I like to drive with my windows down and play obnoxious music. I figured Surf Punk fits pretty well into that theme of nice weather and obnoxious music. It combines the sincere fuck-you-attitude of punk with the ocean vibes of the Beach Boys. Anyways, here's my mixtape for the week:

"King of the Beach" - Wavves

Wavves is the quintessential Surf Punk group and they always will be to me. The attitude, the subject matter, the sound itself, they truly are the definition of this subgenre.

"Cocaine" - FIDLAR

Take the "fuck you" and "do drugs 'til you drop" elements of punk, amp those waaaay the fuck up and sprinkle in a healthy dose of ocean breeze and you've got FIDLAR. I had a really hard time picking which song from their self-titled album to include, so I highly suggest you go listen to the whole thing if Surf Punk is your thing and you've never heard of FIDLAR before.

"Get Found" - Bass Drum of Death

I don't think I can actually explain why this is surf punk; I just kind of feel it in my soul. Perhaps it's the truly lo-fi self-produced quality of the music; perhaps it's just that I wanted to put it on the playlist this week. All I know is I'm not alone in qualifying Bass Drum of Death as a surf punk outfit just go ahead and look at /r/SurfPunk's sidebar.

"Beachboy" - McCafferty

It's called "Beachboy" god damn it and it's surf punk if I say it is. I think McCafferty describes themselves as dancey acoustic emo punk or some bullshit like that, but this song reeks of the beach to me, if for no other reason than the title.

"I Wear Black" - Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin

Ty and Mikal grew up together in Laguna Beach. They're mostly separate acts. Mikal is more a typical indie rock outfit, whereas Ty is a pretty clear cut noise punk guru (that seems like a bit of an oxymoron). However on the album, Reverse Shark Attack, they came together (pun not intended) to make this really noisey surf punk album and it's pretty great.

"Floating Vibes" - Surfer Blood

Probably more indie than punk, but they're still called Surfer Blood. That's punk enough for me. Great song though. One of my favorite albums of 2010.

"Digsaw" - The Wytches

A little less surf punk, a little more occult punk. This song is creepy and beach-y all at the same time. Not quite sure how that works, but here we are.

"Skateboarding Girl" - Sick Sad World

This is easily one of the most solidly surf punk songs on this mixtape, but they had to go and make it about skateboarding. Fuckin' shoobies.

"Miley" - SWMRS

If y'all want an extra layer of silliness over the music, check out the actual music video

"Talking Backwards" - Real Estate

I would actually never call these guys punk. Their sound, their look, their feel, it's all pretty antithetical to the concept of punk. They chose to call themselves "Real Estate" for fuck's sake. That said, the song is really good, it's super beach-y and the front man was in Titus Andronicus (which is easily one of the best punk bands of the last decade) once upon a time so that's good enough for me to include it.