Get Lazy with Surf Rock Is Dead's "Late Risers"

These days Orange County California is known more for its chapter of The Real Housewives and fictional teenage messes like The OC’s Marissa Cooper than for being the birthplace of surf rock. In fact, if you were to ask for the biggest cultural contribution Orange County has provided the world, a lot of gum smacking, Keystone Light-drinking sorority girls would burp out, “Uh… Lauren Conrad?” But surf rock is still alive it seems, it’s simply moved cross-country to Brooklyn, where bands like DIIV, Beach Fossils, and The Drums are making music that feels like sipping margs while basking on the sun-kissed sand.

Joining these now established acts as sonic counterparts are Kevin Pariso and Joel Witenberg who make up Surf Rock Is Dead (and originally hail from Chicago and Melbourne, Australia). If Lana Del Rey can be the “Queen of Coney Island," these dudes can definitely pick up on New York’s estranged beachy vibes too. Premiering below is their new track, “Late Risers,” which embodies the genre’s lazy haze through a new wave, Cure-like filter (check the basslines). It’s a testament to the power of the human imagination—and their bleached grooves—that this can conjure a baking beach and some existential ennui in the middle of a frigid winter.

On writing the song, Witenberg says, "On this track we were going for a big sound whilst maintaining our live feel; the music itself is really bright while the lyrics dive into dark territory. Once we started jamming on the goofy riffs at the beginning, the track wrote itself.”

Just listen:

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