The Japanese Motors

Hailing from Newport, California, and good friends of the Goons of Doom, The Japanese Motors were unfortunate to meet a grizzly demise, critically speaking.

Frontman Al Knost’s mastery on a surfboard may not be in question but musically? We’ll let you be the judge.

This crew of SoCal surfers did enjoy some success, however, putting out a couple of records on the Vice label and supporting bands as big as the Black Lips and the Growlers.
“Their more in-your-face retro tracks reek of posturing”
Not everyone was into it, however, in particular the incredibly influential Pitchfork magazine, who gave it to the poor pricks in the following review:

“While those cuts are merely underwhelming and escapist, their more in-your-face retro tracks reek of posturing. B.N.E. with its bluesy chorus of “she wants a brand new everything” gets wise to this whole superficial, materialistic SoCal culture – an observation that’s been made in like a hundred jagillion (I checked) works of art in the last century.”

Suffice to say the Japanese Motors are no longer. Al Knost now fronts a new band with fellow RVCA team rider, Ford Archbold (son of 90s surf punk legend, Matt).

The Growlers

While we’re in Newport, let’s check out The Growlers from nearby Costa Mesa. A number of them bodyboard and live for the days at the world famous Newport Wedge.

Close friends and regular jam partners of Al Knost, Andrew Doheny and Ford Archbold, they started out as a Doors cover band. More often than not they live/record/perform out of a Costa Mesan warehouse

Now, they’ve since morphed into something kinda epic, packing out shows all through America and the Australian east coast.
“There’s something kinda eery about their music, like surf pop but super melodic”
Australian shred-head and part-time guitar enthusiast, Creed Mctaggart caught them play a hometown show and had this to say:

“There’s something kinda eery about their music, like surf-pop but super melodic. The lead singer has this kind of strange monotone voice and they use heaps of reverb.

I reckon they’re pretty Beatlesy, definitely a 70s kind of vibe. The lead singer’s voice is really unique and you know, they’re definitely unique and capture you.”

Radio Birdman

A generation before The Sunnyboys and a definite influence on them, these Sydney-based shredders were probably the single most important band in Australian rock.

Every bit as seminal as the Ramones, they never really got the attention or celebrity they deserved. Probably because America is just so fucking good at jerking off over their own culture, whereas in Australia if you so much as acknowledge your fans you get pegged with steaming hot meat pies.

Their sound stinks of a mouldy wetsuit in a dank panel van – as in fucking sick. It’s The Clash meets the Dead Kennedy’s with a good helping of melodious surf riffs, keys and vocals to boot.

Proud late 70s waxheads, Radio Birdman churned out a dozen or so classics before going their separate ways way back in ’78. They reformed again in 1996 and have played very sporadically since.

Mickey Smith

You might know Mickey Smith as the artistic wunderkind behind Dark Side of the Lens, along with half a dozen of the best surf shots and films you’re ever likely to see.

He was a semi-pro bodyboarder before that (with a particular affinity for dredging slabs) and now kills it as a musician. That’s actually his music on Dark Side of the Lens, while lately he’s been touring around with two-time Brit award winner, Ben Howard.

Pretty classic how that happened: Mickey shot the cover for Ben’s album, Every Kingdom, and they got to playing music after that. Ben dug him, they formed a little side-project and then Ben went and won two Brit awards.

Next thing Mick knew, he was staring out at a capacity Glastonbury crowd. “Unbelievable natural psychedelics man,” he told me. “It was more like a moving sea of 80,000 people all singin’ along. I’ve never felt sea sick before but I did up there,” he says.