Surf

New EP: Hitchcocks || Tales of Hitchcocks

A midnight dance party wrapped in cinematic mystery

By / / Surf / Leave a Comment

Last year, São Paulo, Brazil-based rock ‘n’ roll quartet Hitchcocks released the album Tales of Hitchcocks, consisting of thirteen near-instrumental surf tunes inspired by B-movies, horror comics, and retro gothic aesthetics. For those who couldn’t handle that much suspense, four of the highlights—Vampire Dancing, Gang Dos Lobos, Escaping Ghost Town, and O Regresso—return on limited orange-colored 7″ vinyl, also titled Tales of Hitchcocks. These are original, exciting adventures captured in original, reverb-heavy melodies and a spooky, danceable sound. Must-have for fans of the genre.

Tales of Hitchcocks is out digitally and on vinyl 7″ through Sunnyboy66 Records, in partnership with Reverb Brasil, Latitude Zero Record, and Vinil Brasil. Featuring Bob Hitchcock (vocals, guitar), Washington Santos (vocals, keys), Nathan Borges (bass), and Alexandre Gabora (drums).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Dusted || The Best New Cover Songs Of February 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk, Surf / 1 Comment

Not all new music is really new, as many artists cover songs. Sometimes these are songs by their favorite artists, e.g. as a tribute to such a musical hero for a special reason, or they simply feel that a song deserves to be dusted and polished to reacquaint fans with great songs from the past. Other times, bands cover songs as a parody. Regardless of intent, some of those cover versions are so good or so much fun, we’d like to put a spotlight on them. Chosen from a wide range, here are—in a kind of random order—a bunch of successful covers from last month—links to pages where you can add them to your wantlist included.

California Sun (originally recorded by Joe Jones, popularized by the Ramones) by The Linda Lindas — digital track (Epitaph)

Vitamin C (Can) by Calibro 35 — from Mister Magic 7″ (Record Kicks)

Jump (Van Halen) by Sammy Kay — from Born To Run EP

…

Dusted || The Best New Cover Songs Of February 2026Read More »

New album: Worries And Other Plants || Sweet Heart Sugar Love

Hypnotic grooves for desert drives and coastal escapes

By / / Psych, Surf / Leave a Comment

Switzerland-based musical mastermind Dionys ‘Dio’ Müller returns with Worries And Other Plants, drifting between coastal breeze cool and heat-haze hypnosis on the Sweet Heart Sugar Love LP. Its sound is rooted in psychedelic indie rock, but it’s the surf-kissed riffs, repetitive rhythms, and languid grooves that make this release stand out. Like desert flowers cracking through sunbaked asphalt.

The eight new songs come across as a wondrous blend of influences from Allah-Las, The Velvet Underground, Ghostwoman, and Kid Koala, making for a mesmerizing listening trip through dystopian tension and blissed-out melody, along open highways and endless horizons, feeling both intimate and infinite.



Sweet Heart Sugar Love is out now digitally via Nice Guys Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Mark Malibu & the Wasagas || Knock Me Out!

Surf rock spirit revived with cinematic flair and melodic punch

By / / Surf / Leave a Comment

The first life of Toronto, Ontario’s surf punks Mark Malibu & the Wasagas ended after a few years in 1982, but after their reincarnation in 2014 they are energetically making up for lost time. Their latest full-length album, Knock Me Out!, contains sixteen new instrumentals (including three that we already knew from the year-end list-worthy Pepper Stomp EP), plus a film-like fragment as an intro and a radio-like jingle as an outro. Fans of reverb and twang get what they love, but it’s the original melodies that hit the hardest here.



Knock Me Out!—written and produced by Mark Sanders aka Mark Malibu—is out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Sharawaji Records. Featuring Mark Malibu (guitars, organ), Ricky Wasaga (bass), Fast Mike (guitar), Steve Turner (drums, percussion), and Starlotte Satine (go-go dancing).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: Lucky Pepper || Cooking Without Singing!

Instrumental rock ’n’ roll colored by comic blues and sci-fi atmospheres

By / / Garage Rock, Surf / Leave a Comment

Not that many new releases in the first weeks of the new year, which gives me the opportunity to catch up on the archives of the commendable online radio station ROVR, especially the shows curated by DJ hero Keb Darge, who plays a fantastic selection of vintage garage rock, surf, rockabilly, and R&B on The Uprising. The music of French rock ‘n’ roll band Lucky Pepper would fit perfectly into those setlists. This week they launched a fresh mini-album, titled Cooking Without Singing!, featuring eight delicious instrumentals inspired by comic books and science fiction.

The self-penned tunes draw on garage and surf rock traditions, exploring a raw, high-energy sound rooted some 65 years ago. Sunburnt melodies, spicy guitars, and a colorful piano make them all irresistible hip-shakers. Who’s alerting Keb Darge?



Cooking Without Singing! is out now digitally and on 10″ vinyl through Pigmé Records. Featuring Geoffrey “Lucky Pepper” Kempf (guitars), JP. Cardot (piano), Julien Lacombe (bass), and Rémi Puglisi (drums).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Rimbalo || Luminara

Moonlit guitars and slow waves of psychedelic calm, edged with the unknown

By / / Indie Pop, Surf / Leave a Comment

Rimbalo is a dream pop outfit hailing from Indonesia, featuring Lyra (vocals), Rooki (guitars), Marlow (bass), Solara (keys), and Zephyr (drums, percussion). Their debut album, Luminara, drifts in on a humid night breeze, reframing surf rock and garage-psych influences as something inward-looking and quietly hallucinatory, like distant lights on the water.

In twelve cinematic tracks, reverb-soaked guitars, soft-focus synths, and angelic vocals take us on a nocturnal trip along imagined coastlines (“Whispers coil upon the sable tide // Shadows conspire where the night resides // Windows bleed their argent, ghostly gleam // Threading silent hymns through a fevered dream”—from Spectral House on the Black Shore). The melodies shimmer with reflective melancholy, blurring memory and mirage, with a subtle but fascinating unease beneath the calm.




Luminara—written, composed, performed, and produced by Rimbalo—is out now digitally (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New compilation: Various Artists || So Fresh: Tote-ally Summer For Black Peoples Union

Big scene energy

By / / Alternative Rock, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk, Surf / Leave a Comment

Look, not everyone cares about Christmas or holiday-themed music, but we all care about great underground music coming out of Australia, right?

So Fresh: Tote-ally Summer For Black Peoples Union is a massive 65-band compilation that brings together a whole lot of familiar names we’ve covered over the years: Billiam, Leatherman, The Gnomes, Game Set Match, The States, Loose Lips, and plenty more. Not everything here is previously unreleased, but there’s no shortage of surprises — including covers, live tracks, and plenty of material you probably haven’t heard before.

The release coincides with a mini-festival held last Sunday at The Tote, and in proper seasonal spirit, 100% of the Bandcamp proceeds go to Black Peoples Union. You can buy this digital compilation for just $5, or donate more to the cause directly, and mail the receipt to obtain a download code. Anyone looking for a politically neutral experience should look elsewhere: the liner notes are upfront about the fact that these recordings were made on stolen, unceded land. A huge compilation with a clear purpose — and a lot of great music to dig into.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Music Year-End List || Dennis’ Favorite Singles and EPs of 2025

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk, Surf / 1 Comment

Last week we posted the overviews of our favorite LPs of 2025 (here is Niek’s, there is mine), but this year also saw countless short-format releases that deserve to be listed. Below you can listen to the 50 singles and EPs that I enjoyed most last year (note: individual songs are excluded), in alphabetical order. Links point to Bandcamp or another sales outlet (the titles), and to previously posted reviews (in the body text).

While I traditionally prefer albums, if only because you don’t have to get up as often to turn the record over, but also because it literally gives you more time to immerse yourself in the artist’s world, I’m increasingly enjoying the pleasures of singles and EPs. They’re often explosions of positive energy packed with hooks, which immediately make for a good time, and that was certainly the case over the past 12 months. If this were the soundtrack to a night out, I’d return home exhausted but utterly delighted.

…

Music Year-End List || Dennis’ Favorite Singles and EPs of 2025Read More »

New EP: Harmonica Lewinski || Medium Cool

The soundtrack for your next cocktail party

By / / Garage Rock, Surf / 1 Comment

Rochester, New York-based rock ‘n’ roll outfit Harmonica Lewinski follow up 2023’s spicy Super Hot LP with this Medium Cool EP—six fresh tunes that blend surf and garage rock with exotica and neo-psych influences. Varied in styles and voices, yet always sunny and cheerful.

They kick things off with the rockabilly-tinged surf instrumental Rat Race, continue their journey with hip-shaking Little Lenny, catchy singalong Clown Alley (in girl-group mode: “Sha-la-la”), and the crooning ballad Sweet Thing, before closing with a soulful cover of Come See About Me by Don Covay & The Goodtimers.


Medium Cool, recorded by Alex Patrick, is out now digitally via Super Hot Sounds.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Riptide Pats || Waves Of Steel

A high-tide surge of reverb, rhythm, and raw energy

By / / Surf / Leave a Comment

The Riptide Pats are a surf rock trio from Kungsbacka City, Sweden, featuring Gustav Wilhelmsson (guitars), Jocke Olsson (bass), and Fredrik Wallgren (drums). Their full-length debut album, Waves Of Steel, ticks all the boxes of the genre—reverb-heavy, melodic guitars, a driving rhythm, cinematic samples, and catchy hooks, including spaghetti western influences and a chase-movie feel—yet surprises with originality and variety. You get no fewer than fourteen instrumentals with an authentic live atmosphere, energetic, loud, and tight.



Waves Of Steel is out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Green Cookie Records and Ghost Highway Recordings.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Ghost Highway || Green Cookie

 

 

Scroll to Top