ARTIST HIGHLIGHT - Surf Curse
Kenzie Gay - @kenzwrites
Everyone goes through different eras of music. It’s part of growing whether that means legitimately growing up or just evolving in one’s likes and interests. For me, one of my very first real eras of music was in middle school. Middle school, as we all should know, is really that first taste of individuality for most kids. Before the sixth grade, I mostly listened to whatever was on the radio (Imagine Dragons, One Republic, Adele, Maroon 5, etc.) or whatever my parents played (a shit ton of Billy Joel and D12) so I didn’t quite have a gauge for taste yet aside from my long-time love for varied American Idol contestants. I knew that I liked rock or at least the old glam metal my dad would occasionally play in the garage but I had yet to truly discover the music that would ultimately bring me where I am today. After I dipped my toes into new sounds and styles, though, I found myself magnetized by the work of Nick Rattigan or rather, Current Joys. Now, assuming that you read this article title, we are not here to talk about Current Joys, so I will be brief (I promise I am going somewhere with this).
Current Joys is the musical moniker for Nick Rattigan, a 32 year old singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/director from Reno, Nevada. The Current Joys project first debuted in 2013 with his premiere album titled Wild Heart. This record along with its successors established Current Joys to be a perfect fit in the category of indie and new wave genres. Gentle, experimental, dark, and alluring, the music of Current Joys was a constant rotation for 14 year old me alongside artists such as Mac DeMarco, Alex G, and others.
Aside from Current Joys, though, Rattigan has his foot in another musical project. Arguably a larger one as of lately. That, my friends, would be the surf rock band Surf Curse (see, I told you we’d get there).
Photos via Elinor Kry
What is Surf Curse?
Surf Curse is a four piece group derived out of, again, Reno, Nevada. The lineup first began with Rattigan on drums and vocals and long-time friend Jacob Rubeck on guitars and they called themselves Buffalo 66 but as the years went on, Surf Curse became a more fitting name and they brought on Henry Dillon and Noah Kholl on bass and guitar.
Hitting the ground running, Surf Curse officially began in 2012 when Rattigan and Rubeck moved to Los Angeles where they played at The Smell, a local club that welcomed local acts with similar styles. There, they made a name for themselves in the Los Angeles surf/rock/grunge/new wave scene and they began to accumulate a following soon after that would garner them eventual Tiktok viralness and the opportunity to tour with rock powerhouse Greta Van Fleet.
Surf Curse: The Music
As I wrote earlier, Surf Curse’s genre resonates with those of rock, surf, and indie for the most part. They combine those nostalgic elements of 1980s music with fresher hues and it all began with their debut album.
Buds was released on May 10th of 2015 when Rattigan and Rubeck were just 23 years old and to this day, it is still their most-streamed album as it holds reputable tracks such as Goth Babe, Freaks (which has since been removed from the initial record and re-released as a single with other remixes) and In My Head Till I’m Dead.
The album, in my professional opinion, is a perfect amalgamation of Surf Curse’s origins but perhaps even more intriguing is the fourth album they made, which just so happens to be their most recent release that also includes Dillon and Kholl.
The album is called Magic Hour and it was released to the public in October of 2022. This is the record that I think is most impressive off of the band’s discography due to how natural and evolutionary it sounds. Dillon and Kholl’s contributions meld in effortlessly with Rattigan and Rubeck’s, making for a legendary 12 tracks.
There’s Arrow, the opening song that made several concert-goers get up to buy a CD during their show in Cleveland I attended last summer. It is fast paced, high energy, and just what rock n roll is at its roots.
Then, there’s good ol’ Sugar. A dark but irresistible song that is slower in retrospect to the album with a consistently satirical theme in its lyrics that pokes fun at love and self-loathing.
But, of course, my favorite would have to be Unwell. Coming in at six minutes and twelve seconds, Unwell is long by industry opinions but not long enough by mine. Dillon’s bass contributions drive the song in a captivating yet chill way and Rattigan gives his all from a vocal point of view with borderline heavy metal screaming that showcases the raw energy and power of Surf Curse as we know it.
A monumental moment in Surf Curse’s journey so far occurred in 2020 when Freaks went viral on Tiktok and other respective social platforms. So viral that it was re-released in 2021 as a single that was followed by remixes with reputable artists such as Kilo Kish, Brutus VIII, and Travis Barker. This wave of attention and streams garnered them more fans that only increased once Magic Hour made its way into the world, earning the band a spot as Greta Van Fleet’s opening act for the fall leg of their Starcatcher World Tour in the United States last year. According to a post the band made, this was their biggest tour or opportunity yet and it paid off because much of Greta Van Fleet’s fandom found their way into the Surf Curse one, too.
Even now in the summer of 2024, the band has yet another song blowing up on, again, Tiktok, and it’s for their 2019 single Disco that never found its way on any long plays. Now, this time around the viral-ness isn’t nearly as huge as it was for Freaks but it’s notable all the same and there’s even a dance Tiktok users have made to coincide with the trending tune.
Surf Curse: Down the Road
Despite their 10.9 million monthly Spotify streams, Surf Curse still appears to be a “small” band when it comes to shows and touring at large. Their touring days have been minimal in comparison to other groups but fans have still held out hope that perhaps one day the four members will be ready to tour the country as headliners. No music or dates have been promoted or even teased as of publishing but the band has hosted a handful of movie screenings in their home city of Los Angeles. They’ve shown movies such as Cape Fear, Magic Mike XXL, Midnight Cowboy, and plenty of others due to the band’s vast inspiration they’ve taken from various films and the pride they have in their LA community.
Furthermore, though Surf Curse doesn’t seem to have any new music coming soon both Rattigan AND Dillon have their own solo careers that are plentiful and consistent, which you can find below.
