The Beach Boys sang about surf, but the real surf bands never sang a word. Surf instrumental acts such as Dick Dale and The Ventures expressed the exhilaration of surfing through trebly guitar-powered music. The genre, which waned once The Beatles landed in America, saw resurgence in the ’90s after Quentin Tarantino stocked the Pulp Fiction soundtrack with surf music.
Two decades after the surf revival, Milwaukee’s The Exotics mark their 20th anniversary with a career retrospective album. Twangy Surf & Spy Themes, out on CD and, of course, vinyl, is comprised of tracks from their Go Go Guitars album and the Spy EP plus one new number, “Skimpy.” All songs are originals, credited to the band, yet nothing would have sounded out of place at a California beach party circa 1962.
The Exotics retain two of their founders, drummer Don Nelson and bassist Jon Ziegler. A pair of longtime members, guitarists Brandt Zacher and Paul Wall, rounds out the lineup. “I learned to play guitar from those old surf records,” Wall says. “When I was taking lessons, I’d want to play ‘Pipeline’ by The Chantays. All the other kids wanted to play Van Halen.”
The chords may be simple when mapped out as sheet music, but like their ’60s forbearers, The Exotics evoke a wider range of emotions than is usual in pop music. Urgent melancholy chases the elation of danger; Latin and Oriental cadences, and resonant guitars and moist timbres, ride on a big rolling beat. The difference between a great and a ho-hum surf band, according to Wall, “is the drummer—you have to have dynamics to make it interesting.”
In the ’90s, some of surf music’s second-wave bands tried to update the sound. Not so The Exotics. They were strict constructionists, keeping to the 1962 rulebook—down to wearing identical dark suits and neckties. “We were very set on being a traditional surf band, without any proggy modern take on the music. We accomplished that,” Wall insists.
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The Exotics used to maintain a heavy touring schedule but lately, family and jobs have kept them anchored in homeport most weekends. However, recent years have seen them venturing out to some prime gigs, including Surf Guitar 101, a surf instrumental festival on Huntington Beach in Los Angeles. Next year, The Exotics are scheduled to play Viva Las Vegas, a rockabilly-cum-all-around-retro convention. Although the genre began more than half a century ago, “every time it crops up, it’s still fresh,” Wall says. “It sounds as if it’s beamed in from another planet.”
The Exotics’ album release party will be held Saturday, Sept. 19 at Club Garibaldi. Milwaukee psychobilly band The Grovelers will open the show.
