Splashdown is when a spacecraft hits the water upon reentry into Earth's atmosphere. When astronauts go from space to surf.  It's a great name for the splashdowns, who mix a semi-trad surf sound with a sense of cosmic wonder and adventure. Think The Spotnicks doing Rocket Man rather than Man... or Astro-man?, with a non-aggressive, thoughtful surf approach and not much reliance on out-there effects. There's a surprising amount of variety too.

There are some things that deserve recognition other than just the albums themselves. This is the category where I get to spill out the rest of those observations. These categories change year to year.

If you go on bandcamp and sort by the "surf" tag, you may not recognize what you find. A bunch of garage bands, most of them with vocals. Meanwhile, a lot of modern instrumental bands cringe a bit when their music is compared to the product of a 60's cultural explosion in California. But there are some groups that are proud torch-bearers of that time. Not looking to reinvent the wheel, but rather recapture a lost art. These are the groups that did it best this year.

The Concussions hit an amazing middle ground between being absolutely crammed with hooks and being understated. What I find is that this combination makes for an absurd amount of repeat spins in the car, especially as background music. Now, I hate talking about instro as background music, but when everybody finds themselves whistling it when they get out, I think that's OK. The Concussions are able to grab that simpler form of riff-based song-writing that seems left in the 60s and they do it effortlessly.

The Volcanics aren't the most celebrated band on the Double Crown roster, but they're one of the most solid. While the mailman hasn't brought this one to my doorstep just yet, from Double Crown's descriptions this sounds like more of the same. More of the same means killer trad instrumentals that hit the sweet spot of testosterone and melodic sensibility sitting next to some great upbeat garage tracks. Not to mention I've always thought the production quality on their records hits just the right crispness and tone to get that great energy of the 60's classics.

The Kanaloas are the latest group to be brought into the Double Crown gang. Though they've been around for a good while, they stuck to 7"s up until this point and might have passed you by (admittedly, this was the case for me). Now they have an 11-song LP under their belt with a simple but pretty choice of album art that broadcasts one thing loud and clear: "Trad". The Kanaloas perform in suits, and serve up 60's styled originals and a few obscure covers. I haven't gotten a copy of this yet, but they have a proven track record and the Double Crown seal of quality. Hard to argue!

2015 is done, and it was pretty damn good. But there's already some things looming on the horizon for 2016 to get really excited about.

While I'm busy cooking up these other awards, I find a few more things I want to recognize. So here are a bunch of smaller awards. No honorable mentions, only one runner-up if that.

Best Record Label

I've had this one for a few weeks now and have already reviewed it, but the latest Madeira release just became available to purchase from Double Crown. The very quick version: it's another Madeira album, of course it's great, ya dingus.

Double Crown had been teasing a mystery EP in a few of their newsletters and I confess I had no clue. It turns out it was a new outfit with Sean Berry, Mr. Double Crown himself, in the lineup! He's joined by Jonny Browning of Jonny and the Shamen/MOAM and Hollis Pilling. It's a modest collection of songs, not terribly loud or aggressive, more quirky and creepy, but the MOAM lineage definitely comes through. Three of the tracks are originals, but I actually really like their take on the Ventures' VampCamp where they've sped it up to a less creepy tempo. Sounds like a new song!