This category is probably the most questionable one, but also very fun. Especially this year. The records that go far enough off the beaten path of surf that they don't seem eligible to be discussed in the other categories, but shouldn't go unmentioned. While they're not judged on how weird they are, hearing something new is always fun.

This can also be a hard one to judge since there's basically zero apples to apples comparison. So I try to remind myself of my guiding principle for each category: what do I think I'll listen to and enjoy the most?

Since most of us reading a website are living in modernity, this is the most general category. Music that's certain surf, but influenced, even if not overtly by modern music. As a result, it tends to be the biggest category, and with 8 honorable mentions and one winner this year, that seems to be the case.

I don't really care when people say stuff like "Dick Dale was the godfather of Heavy Metal". Surf music, as far I can tell, is when rock & roll musicians really started to embrace loudness and aggression. It's not a stepping stone to other loud forms of music, it's the dawn, and whatever came afterwards simply came later. And part of why I say this is because just as metal, etc can take influence from surf, surf can grab back too. This is the category for bands that focus on that aggressive sound.

1960's surf music was special. There's a ceratin magic to it that's almost impossible to replicate, but many try. While the groups in this category aren't graded by how closely they capture the 60's sound, they at least succeeded to the extent that they convinced me that they're trying to.

I like to listen to things, but I also like to look! Here are surf records that I thought were nice to look at.

Oh sure, we're a full month into 2025 now, but let's talk about the best surf releases of 2024. Who am I to say what's best? Well this is all as subject to whims and biases as anybody's would be, but I can say that I've listened to an awful lot. I made a big huge list of every surf release I could find and listened to some of almost all of them. That's gotta count for something!

Every year there's some things that feel like they're off on their own orbit, but that orbit spends a decent amount of time in our surf galaxy. Awful astronomy aside, some things just don't fit neatly into my stupid Gremmy categories, and though it's hard to judge them as there's little to compare them to, a great record is a great record and should be recognized for it.

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.