{"id":36177,"date":"2026-02-13T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/addtowantlist.com\/?p=36177"},"modified":"2026-02-14T12:21:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T11:21:39","slug":"video-premiere-ridel-high-motorboat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/addtowantlist.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/13\/video-premiere-ridel-high-motorboat\/","title":{"rendered":"Video Premiere: Ridel High || Motorboat"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first time I heard Ridel High was on a compilation I was obsessed with back in ’96: Happy Meals (A Smorgasbord Of My Favorite Songs)<\/em> <\/a>on Lagwagon frontman Joey Cape’s My Records. Ridel High provided the second track, the extremely addictive and hooky Self-Destructive<\/em>. Three decades later, the song still soars<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So when the band reached out about premiering the video for Motorboat<\/em>, a recently unearthed demo from their final recording sessions, I didn’t hesitate. This is a band that deserves way more recognition than they got.<\/p>\n

For those unfamiliar, Ridel High (Kevin Ridel (vocals\/bass), Steve LeRoy (guitar\/backing vocals), and Steve Coulter (drums\/backing vocals)) only released one full-length album. The LA trio was part of the Generation Blue<\/em><\/a> geek rock scene, and tored through SoCal venues with a high-energy sound that was equal parts sweet melody and crunchy distortion. Joey Cape signed them to My Records and produced their 1997 debut Hi Scores<\/a><\/em>, which A&M Records later rebranded as Emotional Rollercoaster<\/em>. They toured with Weezer during the Pinkerton<\/em> era, but when A&M dropped them, the wheels came off.<\/p>\n

Before calling it quits in 1998, they recorded one last session. Among those final demos was Motorboat<\/em>, dating back to 1995. The song sat in the vault for over two decades before being remastered for the new B-Sides + Demos<\/em> EP. Steve Coulter calls it the Ridel High song he’s revisited most over the years, and it’s easy to hear why: it captures everything great about the band’s sound in three minutes of irresistible alt pop-punk perfection. On a side note, Kevin Ridel originally wrote Motorboat<\/em> with “parumpumpums” instead of “badabadas” and accidentally misspelled “rudder” as “rutter,” which, as he notes, would have taken the song in a very different direction.<\/p>\n

What a blast to hear this song. And there are 4 more on the B-Sides + Demos<\/em> EP which is out now on most streaming platforms. Catch Ridel High and Summercamp opening for Nerf Herder’s 30 Years of Golf Shirt<\/em> show at The Lobero Theater in Santa Barbara on April 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

Watch the video for Motorboat<\/em> below:<\/p>\n