WATCH Surf City Records Of A Flagpole Skater
Surf City
New York’s Oh My Rockness magazine wrote at the end of 2009 “New Zealand's Surf City are getting such big buzz that the hype has made its way halfway around the world”. Fast forward to 2011 and a hugely successful album release and a US tour have cemented their highly-coveted status as the inheritors and re-inventors of the Dunedin Sound torch.
After naming themselves after a Jesus and Mary Chain B-side and showcasing their 1980s-styled, fuzzed-out rock around house parties and underground bars alike, Surf City released their debut EP in 2007. This EP earned international recognition as an exciting new twist on classic influences such as The Clean, The Bats and of course the aforementioned Jesus and Mary Chain. Very quickly, they found themselves earning opening slots for Interpol, Dinosaur Jnr and Battles and becoming one of the most-played new acts on college radio throughout the US in 2009.
Hot on the heels of this success, Surf City played six blistering shows at New York’s CMJ Showcase, sharing the stage with equally exciting new acts Best Coast, Surfer Blood and Let’s Wrestle, among others.
This brief taste of the USA wasn’t enough for the band, so they headed back in March 2010, touring both coasts and playing seven gigs in three days at SXSW in Austin. Given their pick of record labels, they signed a US deal with Fire Records, motivated by their enthusiasm and commitment to making the band their number one priority. Popfrenzy took the honours of releasing their upcoming album within Australia.
Such immediate success has seen other bands cave under the pressure, but Surf City rose to the occasion upon delivering their first full-length album in 2010. Between all this touring the band came up trumps with an excellent longplayer. It is called Kudos. The album was recorded over the course of a year and a half mostly in bedrooms, basements and occasionally the old Arch Hill studios. Mostly it was recorded and mixed by themselves.
Kudos was met with even more international acclaim than the EP, with Magnet Magazine (USA) reporting “we are thrilled to add Surf City to the list of Kiwi bands we love”. Pitchfork gave the album a 7.7/10 rating, with Stereogum also lauding the upcoming release.
Surf City are now on their third visit to the USA, with over 30 cross country dates seeing them bring their innovative spin on a nostalgic sound to new and established audiences alike.
