IMSC Ep 53 - Song 6: "Electric Skull" by The Surf Zombies

"Surf zombies are those apparently undead standing motionless on a beach watching the waves break. They often are surfers, and can be recognized by the glassy stare."
- from The Urban Dictionary

"Instrumental, all original, hot-rod surf rock and roll 4-piece out of the middle of Iowa."
- from their BandCamp page

"The Surf Zombies raise surf rock from the dead with fast, crazy surf originals that straddle alternative, underground, retro and kid-friendly fun. A Surf Zombies show is some combination of Saturday morning cartoon, beach party and hot rod convention. The jungle rhythms, swirling tremolo of dueling guitars and authentic growl of vintage tube amps make for a truly weird Midwestern wonder."
- from their decription for 2016 Halloween show at The Legion Arts

"Come feel The Surf Zombies. They are all about fun fast melodic surf instrumentals. They sprang forth from the fertile loins of eastern Iowa and have released 4 albums since forming in 2006 according to local legend. At first not everyone understood they meant no harm with these songs with no words, but slowly the people have accepted them as an efficient source of entertainment and now fans from across the globe have discovered The Surf Zombies."
- from their Facebook page

"'We just can’t resist doing it. We have to do it,' insists Brook Hoover as he describes his band’s desire to create original music and take their songs on the road...

“'Quite a few people were saying you ought to put a surf band together and I thought about it, you know, people mentioned it for maybe ten years before we finally did it in about 2006.'

"As the band’s lineup evolved, Hoover invited Tyler Russell, 27, to join the Surf Zombies and the drummer quickly learned it would be fun but a lot of hard work...

"Adds Russell, 'It’s something you have to experience live. As great as our albums are, it’s a different animal live.'”
- from a profile in the Iowa's Creative Corridor website

"Meet The Surf Zombies: We play fast crazy fun surf instrumentals...

"I am the guy who generates hype for the band and plays guitar. They call me Brook Hoover. I spend my days plotting my agenda in a dark dungeon. Someone has to do it. I also write a lot of tunes... Surf Zombies shows make me nervous, but we have stuck with it for about 8 years and it's getting easier and more fun all the time...

"I played instrumentals from a young age and always had a soft spot for the surf sound. My buddies and I were rehearsing when we were about 14 a weird uncle tested one of our guitars and played the slide down and EGBGEGBGEGBGEGBG riff of "Pipeline" over and over then he wandered off with a crazed look in his eye and were were hooked for life.

"Something about surf instrumentals seemed very distant, exotic and alluring to us. It's a happy sounds, but can be pretty heavy and menacing. We also learned "Wipe Out" and played it for our 9th grade talent assembly the whole school screamed like Beatlemania and it's been downhill ever since. I have been out punk rockin in the Midwest since the 70's. We re-discovered our landlocked surf roots a few years back and it's been a thrilling hellride ever since...

"Surf instrumentals can be light and happy, medium tempo, slow and creepy or super fast and heavy. We take a lot of time when writing and arranging our songs, but once we get the sound the way we like it, it's well worth the work. It's the most challenging band we've ever been in... We'd like to thank everyone for coming to our shows and sharing the fun of this exciting form of music!'"
- from their ReverbNation page

Lineup:
Brook Hoover - guitar
Kyle Oyloe - guitar
Joel McDowell - bass
Ryan Hoagland - drums

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/surfzombiesband/

BandCamp:
http://surfzombies.bandcamp.com/

ReverbNation:
https://www.reverbnation.com/surfzombies

To download the whole podcast, right click on the link below and hit "Save as...":
https://archive.org/download/IowaMusicShowcaseEpisode53/Iowa%20Music%20Showcase%20-%20Episode%2053_.mp3

Labels: 2000s, 2009, Brook Hoover, Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids area, Electric Skull (band), Ep 053, garage rock, Halloween, Halloween 2017, Joel McDowell, Kyle Oyloe, Ryan Hoagland, surf music, Surf Zombies (band)