This is the first set of albums included in this countdown. Though these may be lower on the list, being on the list at all is a great accomplishment, and if it were entirely up to me several of these would be much higher. That said, since these had fewer votes than higher on this list and there were more tie-breakers to decide, their position was a little less absolute and my thumb pressed on the scale a little bit more than it will in subsequent chunks.

For more details about how this list was decided upon, see this page.

What constitutes trad surf? After all, a lot of the bands on here won't often be mistaken for 60's recordings, there's definitely kind of a modern trad sound.  Without getting too deep into it, these bands love that surf sound. Some bands would rather be called instro, not something as limiting as surf. Not a problem for these guys. I think of it this way: You, trad surf artist, walk up to the lunch lady wearing your baby blue suit:

13th Magic Skull's last record "Sungazing in Rapa Nui" was a huge surprise hit last year. I gave it an honorable mention for a Gremmy and definitely gave it a lot of thought for the big prize. They've just got so much punch that I'm always surprised when I give it another listen and hear a pretty pure surf sound.

The end of 2014 means we're about 50 years after when the surf craze fizzled out. Yet here we are, pumping out more surf music with no signs of slowing down. We've gone in all sorts of different directions since then, but some bands stay true to the cause and play by the rules. This sections is for those groups that are keeping the torch lit.