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Aug 13, 2015 Surf Rock Is Dead By Michael Wojtas

After listening to “Anymore” for just a second or two, it becomes apparent that Brooklyn duo Surf Rock Is Dead (Kevin Pariso and Joel Witenberg) is operating under a knowingly ironic moniker. The single’s lithe guitar lead traces the entire history of surfy jangle, from the genre’s early-‘60s inception through the days of chiming Factory and Creation Records bands, arriving somewhere in the present alongside the gentle Atlantic Coast wanderings of Beach Fossils and Real Estate.

A slightly more muscular guitar texture emerges in the song’s last minute, suggesting a soft-focus take on shoegaze; it pushes the mood beyond seashore tranquility, urging the afloat-in-reverb vocals to wade out deeply into classic summer-pop themes of longing, nostalgia, and freedom. At its core, this is modern surf music, but there’s nothing frothy about it.

The single (artwork below) will be featured on a forthcoming, currently nameless EP due out September 18. Hear more tracks from the upcoming release over on the band’s soundcloud. And here are a few words from Witenberg: “Reminiscent of the times we’ve all had, Anymore is about being sick of a situation that is always the same…” Listen here.

(www.facebook.com/surfrockisdead)