The Phantom Surfers

The Phantom Surfers are a surf rock band formed in 1988 known for spearheading the instrumental surf-guitar revival of the 1990s with their authentic yet irreverent re-creations of high energy Sixties-era surf music. Dave Crider of Estrus Records, who put out their first EP, said of the Phantom Surfers, "They've opened people's attitudes toward instrumental music, and that hasn't happened in a long, long time." Recalling their early performances, bassist Michael Lucas stated, "Before Pulp Fiction, we were just surprised that anybody liked us without having an idea of the tradition that we were abusing... I mean... working in. 'You guys are good, but how come your songs don't have any lyrics?' was a not infrequent question." Assessing the surf music boom that followed in their wake, Lucas said, "It's great to see that so many surf bands formed, and that people are into surf music. The problem is when they lose sight of the fact that surf is a subset of rock 'n' roll. The same dangers of show-off musicianship, pseudo-intellectualism, and other forms of self-indulgent lameness that made rock go comatose in the late '60s are still primary hazards." The distinctive, all-encompassing aesthetic...