SURF SOUL | Aloha Radio
Fri. Oct. 4
10 p.m.
Surf Bar
The surf rock genre is not known for producing rock ‘n’ roll’s finest voices. In fact, you can probably count the number of surf rock bands with singers on one shaka-shaking hand. And then there’s SoCal’s Aloha Radio. With singer Lauren Mulderrig at the helm, Aloha Radio has found a way to mix right-up-front vocals with the genre’s signature guitar-driven, Dick Dale-inspired acrobatics. “We are by no means a traditional surf rock band,” Mulderrig says. “With our first record, Big Wave Madness, we took multiple elements, such as the reverb-drenched guitar, Hawaiian accents of lap steel and ukulele, and even a hint of reggae, and separated these styles into different songs. The mission with our upcoming record, Pulling Me Under, was to take all these styles and integrate them into our own sound. Instead of hearing a surf song, then a Hawaiian song, and then a reggae song, you will hear all these elements throughout one song.” Consider us intrigued. And unlike so many surf rockers, Mulderrig is in fact a surfer. “I always compare surfing to writing or playing,” she says. “You are so focused on the present moment and looking ahead down the line. It’s like switching chords on the guitar or thinking of the next lyric. You have to tune out the rest of the world and get lost.”
—Chris Haire, Charleston City Paper