Now Hear This - The Surfin' Robots

Way back in the early aughts (i was going to write 00s but that just doesn't look right), before this whole internet thing really blew up and we could pretty much stream any music we can think of, you had to turn to things like Napster or mIRC to find stuff a little more off the pop beaten path. For instance, you could search "surf" and find the usual suspects like The Beach Boys and Dick Dale. Or you might stumble into something completely new and awesome. Until I started searching (and researching) I had no idea there was modern day surf.

If there's one thing I associate with summer, other than the temperature, it's surf music. I've always been a fan of surf, yet another thing I attribute to my fascination with 50s/60s culture. If you listen to enough of it, it starts to blur together and it takes something fresh to break you out of the "been there, heard that" mentality.

Enter, Cowabungiga by The Surfin' Robots...

The Surfin' Robots are one of those bands that I accidentally discovered and fell in love with their music. I've done a good amount of searching the webs and haven't been able to find out much about them other than they are a French band that made a short film about a couple of tin toy style robots that want to surf.

Describing their sound is no easy task. It's sort of like what Daft Punk might sound like if they were a garage surf band. "Dance the Surfin' Robot" is probably the catchiest tune on the album, mainly because it's the only one with real lyrics. I defy you to listen to this and not have the line "Dance the Surfin' Robot" pop into your head later.

They've got the signature drippy guitars of surf but inject some sci-fi electro-pop that gives them a fitting 50s retro futuristic sound.

Check out the video for "Dangersurf" below.

The album clocks in just under a half hour and it's packed with high energy catchy tunes. The best way to listen to surf is blasting it on a nice summer day with the car windows rolled down with a cold beverage of choice in the cup holder. Mine's a Sonic cherry limeade, for the record. Living on the right coast, I'm not exactly in surf country and I am definitely not a beach person but this album puts me in that idealized "fun at the beach" mindset.

You can listen to Cowabungiga on Spotify and grab the full mp3 album at Amazon. Maybe even throw it on at your next party and spread the word of The Surfin' Robots.