Surf Music in San Diego

My college radio station, KCR has put out a benefit CD to help buy needed equipment for the radio station. As part of this effort, we threw a CD release party at The Whistle Stop in San Diego. The CD contains music from 11 surf bands located in Southern California. So, of course, we showcased three of them for our party. Although I liked all three bands, I really need to talk about the last band of the evening, The Slacktones. I was not prepared to be wowed by a “surf band”, but these guys did it. For those of you who don’t follow surf music, there are two things that all good surf bands have in common; a fast and tight drummer and a great lead guitarist. I hadn’t really thought about the latter until I watched these guys play; and Dave Wronski from the Slacktones is amazing. His songwriting is creative, pushing the limits of surf and yet still maintaining a surf sound. And the guitar playing was so fast and accurate and inventive. I really didn’t expect to walk away with a band’s CD, but there I was, asking which CD had that great song with the soft section in the middle (that would be, “The Bells of St. Kahuna”… and what a fantastic song that is). It is almost like going to a jazz concert except that it may be more melodic and the chances of hearing the theme to Hawaii 5-0 are better (they did a nice job on it, although it was no where near the highlight of the evening). It was a fabulous evening and we, the alumni, were able to collect over $800 for the station.