Biography
Surf City are an indie pop group from Auckland, New Zealand. Originally formed in 2004 in Mt Roskill under the name Kill Surf City — a nod to a Jesus and Mary Chain B-side — friends Davin Stoddard and Josh Kennedy met at a party and bonded over a shared love of fast guitar pop and the early 1980s Dunedin sound. Tired of the heavy avant-garde music dominating the local scene at the time, they recruited Josh’s brother Jamie Kennedy and drummer Logan Collins to form the band. “The Clean was the one band we all agreed upon,” Stoddard recalled, “and maybe the Ramones. We all thought, ‘Hey yeah, we can start a rock ‘n’ roll band, we’ll learn three chords, we could actually do that.’ I was terrible at guitar when we started.” The band eventually shortened the name to Surf City after discovering a UK act was already using Kill Surf City — having also previously gone by The Fibs.
Surf City released their debut self-titled EP on Auckland’s Arch Hill Recordings in 2007, recorded largely in 2006 across various lounges and bedrooms in Auckland’s Eden Terrace and Kingsland — with most of the vocals recorded at Davin’s mother’s place. The EP also came out on the German label Morr Music and made it onto US college radio, hitting the top ten. They were quickly invited to showcase at SXSW and picked up support slots for Dinosaur Jr. and MGMT. Music blog Stereogum described them as a “jangling, uptempo but melancholic form of shoegaze pop,” and their early singles attracted attention from Pitchfork and student radio across New Zealand.
Their debut LP, Kudos, followed in 2010 through Fire Records in the UK — a label they shared with Spacemen 3 and Teenage Fanclub. It also came out on Arch Hill Recordings locally and on Pop Frenzy in Australia. The album updated the circular guitar drone of The Clean and the psych haze of Spacemen 3 with the propulsive motorik energy that would become a Surf City trademark, drawing critical praise from across the Atlantic. Kudos was supported by the promotional single See How The Sun and established the band as one of New Zealand’s most internationally recognised indie exports.
A second album, We Knew It Was Not Going to Be Like This, followed in 2013 on Fire Records, assembled from recordings made across three continents. Stoddard and Jamie Kennedy spent time writing and recording in a basement studio in New York’s Chinatown, before Stoddard departed to South Korea to teach English. “Your identity is kind of wrapped up with being in this band and all your friends are in bands,” Stoddard said, “but then I was in Korea and I just wasn’t that person. It gave me a chance to step back a bit.” The album was pieced together over email, with Stoddard recording in his apartment by night in Seoul and the rest of the band continuing work in Auckland. Kennedy recalled the New York sessions as formative: “We actually got a lot of ideas from recording in New York. That’s where the album really started. It was pretty dingy, quite dark underneath all these apartment buildings.”
We just knew each other from round the ways. I think the Clean was the one band we all agreed upon, and maybe the Ramones. We all thought, ‘Hey yeah, we can start a rock ‘n’ roll band, we’ll learn three chords, we could actually do that.’ I was terrible at guitar when we started.
Davin Stoddard, NZ Herald, 2013
Their third album for Fire Records, Jekyll Island, was released on 23 March 2015 and was accompanied by Surf City’s first ever European tour, following successful runs through the US and Australia. With Mike Ellis and new drummer Andy Frost providing the rhythmic foundation and Jamie Kennedy expanding his role to lead guitar, the album refined the exploratory qualities of its predecessor into tighter, more immediate pop songs. The tracklist included “Beat The Summer Heat,” “Jekyll Island (and The Psycosphere),” and “Hollow Veins” — the latter also appearing as a CDr single on Fire Records. Critics at Collapse Board described the record as showing “a maturity and a depth lacking on their early releases,” while Under the Radar praised it as “a great example of an evolutionary album progression.”
We actually got a lot of ideas from recording in New York. That’s where the album really started. It was pretty dingy, quite dark underneath all these apartment buildings.
Jamie Kennedy, NZ Herald, 2013
Members
- Logan Collins (drums, Surf City)
- Mike Ellis (guitar/bass, Surf City, Ghost Wave, Space Ventura, Favoured State)
- Andy Frost (drums, Surf City)
- Jamie Kennedy (bass/guitar/vocals, Surf City, Ghost Wave)
- Josh Kennedy (guitar, Surf City)
- Davin Stoddard (vocals/guitar, Surf City)
Discography
- Surf City EP (2007, Arch Hill Recordings)
- See How The Sun Single (2010, Fire Records, BLAZECD182PROMO)
- Kudos LP (2010, Arch Hill Recordings / Fire Records)
- NYC Single (2013, Fire Records)
- We Knew It Was Not Going to Be Like This LP (2013, Fire Records)
- Hollow Veins / Leave Your Worries Behind Single (2015, Fire Records)
- Jekyll Island LP (2015, Fire Records, FIRE395)