Surf Curse is an American indie

surf rock Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a Music genre, genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is in ...

band formed in 2013 in Reno, Nevada, and now based out of Los Angeles. Created by

Nick Rattigan Nicholas Foster Rattigan (born August 6, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, journalist and music video director, originating from Reno, Nevada. He currently releases music under the moniker Current Joys. He ...

(lead vocals and

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

) and Jacob Rubeck (

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

), the band now also includes Henry Dillon and Noah Kholl. The band achieved mainstream success after their song "

Freaks Freak has several meanings: a person who is physically deformed or suffers from an extraordinary disease and condition, a genetic mutation in a plant or animal, etc. Freak, freaks or The Freak may also refer to: Fictional characters * Freak (Ima ...

", written in 2011 and first released in 2013, became popular on the

short-form video Video clips refer to mostly short videos, most of the time called memes, which are short videos of silly jokes and funny clips, most of the time coming from movies or any entertainment videos such as YouTube. The term is also used more loosely t ...

platform TikTok in 2020.

History

Surf Curse was formed in 2013 by

and Jacob Rubeck in Reno, Nevada, initially under several other names including "Buffalo 66" in reference to the film of the same name. The band soon moved to Los Angeles, where they played at

The Smell The Smell is an all-ages, alcohol and drug-free, punk rock and experimental music venue in Downtown Los Angeles, California. The Smell, notable for its DIY ethic, is home to many of the area's avant-garde performers and artists. The venue is ...

, a club that welcomed bands with similar sounds to that of Surf Curse's punk-

. There, they became a part of the local all-ages punk scene. Simultaneously, Rattigan continued working on his solo project, performing as Current Joys. Also in 2013, the band independently released both the EP ''Sad Boys'' and their debut album ''Buds''. The latter featured the song "

", written in 2011 when Rattigan and Rubeck were both aged 18. The band established a growing Los Angeles fanbase, allowing them to play at the October 2016 Beach Goth Festival before an audience that included non-local attendees. Their second album, ''Nothing Yet'', was released in January 2017 through Danger Collective. Rattigan and Rubeck described ''Nothing Yet'' as reflecting their lifelong influence by movies, saying that the song "The Strange and the Kind" could fit on the soundtrack of a modern '' Dazed and Confused''. The band remained somewhat successful, albeit underground, through the 2019 release of their third album, ''Heaven Surrounds You''. This third album was praised for Rattigan's vocals and its lead track "

Disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

", with its fast pace compared favorably to Vampire Weekend's debut, but criticized for reliance on clichés within its lyrics. The lyrics of the album's final song "Jamie" and its repeated line of "I love the people in my life, all my friends keep me alive" have been identified as particularly moving. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns in 2020, Surf Curse were unable to continue performing live. However, in 2020, the song "Freaks" began drawing attention on the

platform TikTok. The song's angsty lyrics, particularly "I am just a freak", made it compatible with TikTok meme formats that played it in the background. "Freaks" has been described as a "soundtrack orwhatever you're cringing about", though its second life on TikTok has been distinguished from other songs that saw a resurgence on the app. Generally, songs that received renewed interest through TikTok were recently featured in movies of television shows, unlike the rather obscurity that "Freaks" had previously enjoyed. Rattigan said he would have also been happy with the song gaining traction had it been featured on the soundtrack to the then-upcoming film '' Avatar: The Way of Water''; Rubeck joked that the unusual variety of videos featuring the song—including gardening tutorials and thirst traps—meant they "had to just stop watching them". The two said that they neither understood nor used TikTok. The popularity of "Freaks" came almost simultaneously with accusations that both Rattigan and Rubeck engaged in sexual misconduct with fans. Danger Collective severed ties with Surf Curse at the time of the allegations. An anonymous allegation against Rubeck was retracted and two against Rattigan were similarly deleted; both band members denied the allegations. In August 2020, Rubeck stated: "There hasn't been a moment in my life that even comes close to what was described in that post." The allegations were made around the same time that Burger Records, which had organized the 2016 Goth Beach Festival, folded during a wave of similar allegations in the Southern California punk scene. After being rereleased as a single in May 2021 following the band signing with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, "Freaks" reached number 64 on the UK Singles Chart and number 17 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, eight years after it first appeared on ''Buds''. The song is RIAA certified Platinum and, , has more than 650 million streams. ''Billboard'' recognized Surf Curse as the second-ranked artists of 2021 in their category New Rock Artists. Following their signing to Atlantic Records, Surf Curse added bassist Henry Dillon and guitarist Noah Kholl to their lineup. Both Dillon and Kholl had toured with the band pre-pandemic; Rattigan said of adding them: "I think the sort of the connection that me and Jacob felt with each other when we started the band, we also felt with Noah and Henry." As a now four-member band, Surf Curse released '' Magic Hour'' in 2022. As with their other album covers that featured the band members, all four are featured on the cover art of the album. The album's release had been preceded by the band performing at

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind "Coachella – Woodstock In My Mind" is a song by Ame ...

in '' Wizard of Oz''–themed attire and the launch of the album's lead single "Sugar". The band began their North America tour for ''Magic Hour'' with a concert in Las Vegas on October 30, 2022, where each band member was dressed as a different iteration of Elvis Presley. ''Magic Hour'' was received positively by critics, who identified its lyrics as more creative and a positive evolution of the band's sound and talent.

Musical style

Surf Curse's music has been described as

, lo-fi,

garage pop Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

, surf punk, post-punk,

surf pop Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental su ...

, indie rock, indie pop, and jangle pop. The band's live performances have been characterized as "bedlam" and "bonkers", with Rattigan saying that a particularly energetic set at Pappy & Harriet's resulted in the venue banning the band.

Jaan Uhelszki Jaan Uhelszki ( ) is an American music journalist and co-founder of the music magazine ''Creem'' where she became one of the first women to work in rock journalism. She is a founding editor of Addicted to Noise and writer-at-large for print and onl ...

, co-founder of '' Creem'' magazine, approvingly described Surf Curse as having a "party-tastic kind of music".

Members

* Jacob Rubeck – guitars *

– drums, lead vocals * Noah Kholl – guitars * Henry Dillon – bass

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Notes

References

{{reflist Atlantic Records artists Indie rock musical groups from Nevada musical groups established in 2013 Musical groups from Los Angeles Post-punk music groups Surf music groups 2013 establishments in Nevada