#293 (of 365) "Let's Go Surfing" The Drums

There's something about Beach Music that has captured my interest over the past decade. I don't live particularly near a beach. And despite living in NJ, I've never lived within an hour of a real beach. And to be honest, with a few exceptions (Wildwood and Stone Harbor as a kid, maybe LBI or Ocean City or Asbury Park on the right occasion) I don't really love going to the beach in NJ. In fact, I've been to Atlantic City, notably not for the beaches, way more than any other "beach" town. So how to explain the appeal of Beach Music - a genre that I've defined throughout this countdown but largely includes jangly pop, shoe gaze, bedroom pop, and mellow beach vibes from bands that often have a beach vibe in their name--Beach Fossils, Day Wave, DIIV, Wavves (more punk than beach music), Real Estate, Beach Vacation, Wild Nothing, Craft Spells, and newer artists like High Sunn or Phantom Youth. 

Well, for me, it's all about California, in particular the beaches south of LA - Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo, Long Beach, Huntington, Venice. The surf and skater scene. The beautiful sand. The beach bars and the volleyball. The small boardwalks and surf shops and overpriced restaurants and breweries. All of it. The fires didn't reach that far--obliterating Malibu and the Palisades, but I hadn't ever spent much time there. It's tragic and I don't have words, and to me, those beaches are my vacation paradise and this music reminds me of all of that, every time. I'm afraid to go out there right now. I have to be in California this week--but up near Fresno, where I was during the start of the fires--and I would usually swing down to Manhattan Beach for a day at the close of the trip to fly back from LAX (Fresno-Denver-Newark takes just as long as the drive to LAX to fly direct) but I didn't last time and I'm not going to this time. From friends who live near there, the air is still bad and I'm sure it's tough on everyone and I don't feel so much like going to a beach bar on a mini-vacation right now, in a world that's been devastated by a natural disaster (one caused by humans). 

Not sure when I'll be back. We are vacationing in Fort Lauderdale in April and then in Hawaii in August so really don't have the funds for a longer vacation in Manhattan Beach this summer. Work may afford a day or two and I miss it quite a bit. I can't wait to go "surfing" again.

"Let's Go Surfing" - The Drums // The Drums (2010)