Storm Surge of Reverb

Andre Nucci used to play in Intoxicos, but their relationship can't be that toxic because he illustrated this cover! I love when somebody can take something done a million times (in this case surfing guitarist) and make it feel new. The garbage, creature's eye, two nuclear bombs, that stuff is fun. But I also just love way it's illustrated. That guitar-surfer's stance and the linework on it really sells the motion. And I love the bright colors that fade to pastels with perspective. This band's art has always been good (the extended art from End Times seen on their facebook banner is great) but this is their best yet.

I think album art is important. It warms you up to a record and sets the tone. When sitting next to a bunch of other records, it's what makes somebody stop and ask "what is this?"

The Gremmy Awards are my choices for favorite surf records of 2023 stretched out into several categories in order give myself more work than anybody asked for. I have not heard every surf album released this year, but I sure did try, and even made a big list of as many as I could. That said, my taste is not infallible -- some records take multiple listens to sink in, and some things resonate with different people. However, my goal is to make a great list of surf instrumental records that I could recommend without hesitation to anyone. Not just good surf records -- there's a lot of those!