Biography
Surf Friends are an Auckland-based two-piece formed in 2009 by Brad Coley (guitar, vocals, keys, harmonica, drum machine) and Pete Westmoreland (bass, keys, vocals). Drawing on the jangle-pop heritage of early Flying Nun bands such as The Clean, the duo built a sound rooted in driving guitars, drum machines and synth loops — a sun-baked wash of post-punk and surf psychedelia.
The band began releasing music on the local Powertool Records label, issuing a self-titled CDr EP in 2009 followed by a flurry of singles and their debut full-length Confusion in 2010. The album drew international attention, with Pitchfork praising their off-the-cuff brilliance and highlighting the band’s knack for wringing maximum feeling from minimal means.
Surf Friends moved to Flying Nun Records for their sophomore album Endorphins in 2013, a record built around layered drum machines, keyboards and looped samples. Over the following years they released the cassette EP Dreams Are Real (2016) and the full-length Doing Your Thing (2019), which drew comparisons to My Bloody Valentine for its wall-of-sound approach and dreamy layered crescendos.
A stack of drum machines, keyboards and looped samples went into the creation of Endorphins, and the result is greatly more than the sum of its parts.
Paul Larsen, Under the Radar
Over their career the duo have collaborated with Hamish and David Kilgour of The Clean, Nick Roughan of The Skeptics, and Snapper, and performed at festivals including The Others Way, Psych Fest and Field of Dreams. In 2023 they returned with Sonic Waves, their most ambitious record yet, mixed and mastered by long-time collaborator Mark Howden and pushing further into shoegaze and electro territory while retaining their signature dreamy psych-surf energy.
Surf Friends still have the tendency to go all ‘pretty My Bloody Valentine’… This duo deserve our patronage more than every six years.
Jangle Pop Hub
Members
- Brad Coley (Guitar/Vocals/Keys/Harmonica/Drum Machine, Surf Friends)
- Pete Westmoreland (Bass/Keys/Vocals, Surf Friends)
- Kelly Davis (former member, Surf Friends)
Discography
- Surf Friends [CDr, EP] (2009, Powertool Records, PT092)
- Confusion [CD] (2010, Powertool Records, PT104)
- Endorphins [CD] (2013, Flying Nun Records, FNCD533)
- Dreams Are Real [Cassette, EP] (2016, Flying Nun Records, FN559)
- Doing Your Thing [Digital] (2019, Flying Nun Records)
- Sonic Waves [CD/Digital] (2023, Flying Nun Records)