The first Gremmy category is a bit of an outlier, as it doesn't really pertain to surf music itself. Album art! However, I think surf as a genre has had a pretty strong visual identity over the years, dating all the way back to its inception. The value of this feels even stronger now that so many bands are simply generating pictures of a surfer riding a huge wave 5 feet from the shore (why is it always like that?). Plus, The Grammys have this category, why shouldn't I?

Surf has always had strong visual iconography attached to nudge how we interpret these instrumentals. We've built and expanded upon that just as we've transformed the music over the years. Here are some of the records where the art really stood out to me this year.