Come remember the good times.
Nothing defines the high water mark of the surf industry better than potato chip surfboards, wrap-around sunglasses and pop punk. It was the late 1990s and all was sunny and bright in our world. Surf-skate-snow clothing companies begun in parent’s garages were hitting the market, months later, with multi-million IPOs. Quiksilver and Billabong were both worth more than a billion dollars.
Pennywise, Lagwagon and Strung Out the soundtrack to every surf DVD and our lives.
The genre was best defined by north San Diego County pop punk outfit Blink-182. Their hits extended beyond Orange County bedrooms and into the heart of America. Mtv played on heavy rotation. Tens of thousands of people thronged to stadium concerts. Blink was a phenomenon. The taste of a new generation.
And would you like a little surf lore? A very young Chris Cote was a Blink guitar tech/roadie.
Chris, of course, would later go on to much fame as the editor-in-chief of Transworld Surf, voice of the Pipeline Pro, impresario behind Monday M.A.S.S., etc. but the man has always kept music close to his heart and just two days ago loosed a single upon the world, titled Friend’s Coming Home.
The song is grown up, a touch. Matured with quality instrumentation anchored by Cote’s honest voice. It is reminiscent of slow core but still maintains the fun of those early pop punk days.
Listen for yourself and then buy on iTunes. Because we live in the future and 1998 is but a distant dream.
