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

There's still the miscellaneous Gremmy awards to be awarded, but the big ones are out of the way. I figture we ought to listen to them!

In addition to those, I've got a few latecomers and a few notables that didn't get a nod. There's still a TON of excellent 2015 releases that didn't make the cut here... I'm considering doing one more 2015 show after the New Years and sweeping up the ones that aren't in this one - there's enough that it would still be a great show!

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:

We're kicking off the 2015 Gremmy Awards with the least musical award, but one that I love. Despite my love of Bo Diddley, I DO judge a book by looking at its cover, at least initially. Perhaps instro gets a little too wrapped up with the aesthetics and tropes that have been used since the 60's, but there are absolutely plenty of bands using art that's fresh and alluring. Enough that I had to make some hard decisions about who NOT to include.

2015 is drawing to a close which means it's time for the second annual Gremmy Awards, where I espouse my very personal opinions on all the surf/instro music I've heard this year. There's issues with doing something like this: I've listened to a TON, but I haven't listened to all of it, and I have probably listened to each one less than a normal person would listen to any album they've purchased.

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.

"Surf" is a very limited term. Some of us use "instro" for that reason, and some don't worry about words. While I love the sunny 60's surf sound as much as anybody, I think instro music is kept alive and interesting thanks in part to the people that aren't afraid to leave it behind. This category is dedicated to surf's weirdo grandchildren. If you'd argue that these aren't surf at all, that's OK by me.

What do I mean by most rad? I mean albums that rule by speed, power, and strength. Surf was the first true musical home of the adrenaline junkie and there are still plenty that carry that torch. I'm not saying meloday has no place here, but this is music to be FELT, not heard. I don't always refer to this sub-style as rad, but it rhymed with trad.

Making a decision here was driving me absolutely nuts. Both because that's the effect these songs have on you, but because it was incredibly hard to pick a winner. So here's my decision for tonight. It may change later in my head immediately after I write it, but it's set in stone here. But most importantly, these are all absolutely incredible records.

What is "Modern Surf"? Maybe I'm splitting hairs here, and it's definitely pretty subjective, but I'm defining Modern as groups that still have a strong root to 60's-styled surf but have picked up a handful of outside influences mostly missing from that era. It's a pretty murky line and my choices as to which groups lie on which side of it will probably be objectionable (I'll probably disagree an hour later) but I think instro music has gotten much more diverse and it's hard to compare some of these bands against each other.

Welcome to the first category of the first Annual Gremmy Awards, in which we'll line up what I consider to be the prettiest surf records of 2014. Any medium is fair game in both the artistic sense and the recording sense. There were a lot to choose from this year and a lot of great ones that didn't make the cut here. If you feel like something got overlooked, go ahead and leave a comment. By the way, given that this award is about art, I'm using the highest quality images I had on-hand, so be patient while it loads.