Surf is usually a very analog type of music, but Mexico's Los Jinetes Del Terror chose to ignore that. The entire record has an electric buzz (and fuzz) to it. They're not afraid to put their keyboards, drum machine or any digital effects front and center. But make no mistake, the guitars are loud, fuzzy and frantic as hell, and the end result is nicely balanced I think. It might need a bit for surf fans to adjust to, but sometimes those are the best records in the end. 

Vacations hail from the ever-musical Athens, Georgia. Nightmare Beach appears to be their debut EP and it's got 4 quick-picked, adrenaline fueled instros on it for you to sink your teeth into.

Wild Cat Stomp is a nice little one-man production from one half of Momo-Sei, a lighthearted rock duo from Japan. I hadn't heard of them before but I got a kick out of this video...

Thankfully not much similarity to the similarly named Lou Reed record, Knoxville's Phantom Operators have been drip-feeding single songs for a few months now and have scooped them all up into a 9-song LP. Some songs like Tiki Patrol and Charlie's Point are pretty trad, but it finds a darker place as it moves on. Definitely get a bit of an Insect Surfers/Derangers vibe.

Here's one from a continent you don't see too often in instro: The Moths hail from South Africa and their sound reflects the look of the album cover here pretty well. It's raw, ragged, and punk-styled. This three-song live EP and their LP from last year are free to download

These Chilean folk definitely don't sound like every other band. While the prominent saxophone may be historically common, it's always a little surprising to hear in modern groups. More surprising is the sitar and the Street Fighter "HADOUKEN". But more importantly, their tone is much different, sometimes definitely not always sticking to the major chords, sometimes sounding a little atonal (I'm assuming intentionally).

Plain ol' Peanut-butter-n-Jelly surf instros with an upbeat vibe from Argentina. I found all six tracks enjoyable, and the drummer seems especially eager. Give 'em a quick listen!

Khruangbin have released 3 EPs this year, two of which were teetering on the edge of surf/rock & roll -- and I decided they were over the edge. This one I think is far enough in our camp, and I think they all deserve a listen if you want to hear something different. They're a little surfy, a little jazzy, dreamy, some krautrock in there...

This one is all (mostly obscure) covers and a little more tight than their other EPs. I'll just go ahead and post them all below

Surfin' Fariseos hail from Chile and love to make a racket. They've got 10 loud and fast instumentals here including 3 covers -- though currently missing an album cover. I think that's a mistake, but sometimes it's nice to listen to something without an album cover telling you how to listen to it. Just me telling you it's pretty raucous. And available for however much you want to pay.

Once I only knew about maybe three Mexican surf bands (Lost Acapulco, Telekrimen, Twin Tones). I always thought it seemed a bit low considering the great things I've heard about the crowds at Mexican surf shows. Bandcamp seemed to open the floodgates, and among other groups, Dr. Tritón came out. This EP is a handful of dark and moody instrumentals to match the album cover. My favorite is probably Pistolera Lady Mamacita