Dick Dale used to boast about how he was the father of heavy metal. However you may feel about that, it is the first type of music I can think of that really focused on aggression. That's a seed that germinated through subsequent loud musics that refactored back into surf. And here we are, recognizing instro music that wants to be fast, loud, and hit hard. These are groups that may not be trying to emotionally move you, but hopefully can set you in motion physically.

September 4th, Daikaiju posted an image on social media announcing the final week of their tour. I can't find it, but I thought I made a comment along the lines of "You'll be back in a month". October 2nd, they announce the beginnings of a 3-week tour with four dates in Louisiana. I'm here getting excited about seeing Surfrajettes touring New Orleans because nobody tours all the way down here. I mean Surfrajettes are one of the slim few surf groups with enough clout to manage a tour outside their region. Except Daikaiju. Multiple times a year. They're the exception to the rule. They feel like an exception to every rule.

Daikaiju have been around for 20 years and in that time have performed... I'm gonna take a conservative guess and say 2000 shows. And yet in that span they've only released three albums. That isn't a suggestion that they should *do more*, because they're about as active as any band I know, it's just surprising.

We're getting near the final picks of the top records of the decade as voted upon by surf fans around the world, and this partincular chunk has a lot of the heavyweights of today's modern surf scene. I was also pleasantly surprised to see how many newcomers on the scene found their way in! You can see the rest here. 

Instro is imaginative and open-ended, and the album art can absolutely affect the way we listen to and interpret an album. Here are some of my favorites from this year.

Honorable Mentions

Hypnotzar - Cold Streams of Taiga

While this blog is mostly focused surf fans worldwide, I can't not let Louisianans know about a few things this week.

Daikaiju's shows are absolutely nuts. While I think it's best that you go in blind, here's a video in case you need convincing.

The Unnaturals will also be there in case you haven't seen one of our finest instro groups already.

Facebook page for the event here