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Surf Curse
American surf rock band
Surf Curse is an American indie surf rock band formed in 2012 in Reno, Nevada, and now based in Los Angeles. The band was formed by Nick Rattigan and Jacob Rubeck (guitars), and now also includes Henry Dillon and Noah Kholl.
The band achieved mainstream success after their song "Freaks", written in 2011 and released in 2013, became popular on the short-form video platform TikTok in 2020.
members: Jacob Rubeck, Nick Rattigan, Noah Kohll, Henry Dillon
formed in: Reno
genres: surf music, post-punk, lo-fi music, indie rock, indie pop
Facts from Wikidata and Discogs, free to use.
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History
Surf Curse was formed in 2012 by Nick Rattigan and Jacob Rubeck in Reno, Nevada, 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, a club that welcomed bands with similar sounds to that of Surf Curse's punk-surf rock. There, they became a part of the local all-ages punk scene. Rattigan continued working on his solo project, performing as Current Joys. Also in 2013, the band independently released the EP Sad Boys and their debut album Buds. The latter featured the song "Freaks", written in 2011 when Rattigan and Rubeck were both aged 18.
Surf Curse's music has been described as surf rock, lo-fi, garage pop, surf punk, post-punk, surf pop, 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, co-founder of Creem magazine, approvingly described Surf Curse as having a "party-tastic kind of music".
"Freaks" is a song by American surf rock band Surf Curse. It was originally released in 2013, from the band's first studio album Buds.
The song was re-released as a single on May 15, 2021, via Atlantic Records. The song later went viral in mid-2021, seeing mass use on social media platforms like TikTok.
Music video
An accompanying music video was released on August 6, 2021, and directed by the band itself. It features the same rerecorded version as in the Rock Band 4 DLC. They talked about the video via TV News Desk: "We never had any intention to make a music video for 'Freaks', but when the opportunity occurred we knew what it needed to be, we had to make a video set in Charles Burns' Black Hole world, which originally inspired the song. We were lucky to cast our friends and put them in this mutant makeup. We were lucky to capture great moments on film and had an opportunity to make an ode to a graphic novel that heavily inspired us."
"Disco" is a song by the band Surf Curse, released in 2019 as the lead single from their third album Heaven Surrounds You on the Danger Collective label. It was released on 12 June alongside a music video directed by band member Nick Rattigan.
The song, in part inspired by the film The Last Days of Disco, was praised for its use of guitar and percussion. The song garnered virality five years later through the video-sharing platform TikTok, topping the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart in September 2024.
Content and reception
The song was released on 12 June 2019 ahead of Heaven Surrounds You, Surf Curse's first album after band members Nick Rattigan and Jacob Rubeck relocated from Reno, Nevada to Los Angeles.
Music video
The music video, also released 12 June 2019, was directed by Rattigan. The video depicts "evening of raw emotion" between a couple in an apartment, dancing to the song in a "warmly-lit" apartment that, part way through the video, turns blue, hazy, and covered in tinsel like a "dimly lit dance hall". Vargas described the video as showing the couple as "stillness surrounds them", leaving viewers "breathless". Rubeck said the dancing was inspired by Hal Hartley dance videos.
