Question: What's the difference between vocal and instrumental surf music?
Answer: Vocal surf music usually bears little resemblance to its instrumental counterpart; indeed, the hits established by the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean in the early Sixties are more or less pop-rock songs that happen to be about surfing. The tight harmonies and Chuck Berry-styled guitar riffs on songs like the Boys' "Surfin' U.S.A." and the duo's "Surf City" are a genre unto themselves; however, most aficionados of what we now call "surf music" do not consider vocal surf the real deal. Vocal surf music remains more about a culture than a sound.
