"When the Pixies were going, Joey and I got really into surf music. We would buy a lot of different tapes at truck stops. At some point we discovered Link Wray – that was pretty important. He wasn't an influence on us so much as a confirmation of what we already were: rough and loud and minimalist. With Link Wray it was like, Oh yeah, I totally get this. I am cut from the same cloth."

"I was in fourth grade when it came out and it was the first type of music that I liked, that my dad thought was dogshit. Before that, I was just like, ‘AC/DC is cool, I don’t know.’ When I heard Weezer I loved it and my dad was like, ‘Uh that’s dogshit.’ I was like, ‘You’re fucking wrong, Dad.’ I cursed a lot as an elementary schooler. ‘Surf Wax America,’ ‘Buddy Holly’ all are just classics."

"What a crazy title! It’s not a surf album at all, of course. I think it’s basically a reissue of his previous album [Let’s Hide Away And Dance Away With Freddy King], which featured his big hit Hide Away. “I guess they stuck the surf picture and title on the record to capitalize on The Beach Boys and the whole West Coast craze that was going on at the time – which Freddy King had nothing to do with. “Although Freddy later became known for being a fine vocalist, he was one of the best blues guitarists ever, and this album really shows what a creative and aggressive guitar player he was. Between the lead lines are little rhythm lines, and they’re all played by Freddy! He could fill in the blanks all by himself. Freddy found all the right notes – nothing was superfluous. When we tour, I make sure to have this on the iPod, so we get to treat the audience and the crew to Freddy King before we come on."

"First published in 1963, and never updated, except for the tide charts, this is a true guidebook. It tells you where to park and how much you’ll pay (in 1963 prices). Mainly, though, it’s about waves, and how to describe them clearly and accurately. At least, that’s what I loved about it as a kid, and still do. It covers several hundred surf spots between Point Conception and the Mexican border. The Namib dryness of its photo captions never ages."

"Pasteur Lappé is a guy from Cameroon who was making music in the late ’70s, and “Sanaga Calypso” was on this collection of experimental African funk music. The first time I heard this song, it reminded me so much of the Clash’s Sandinista! The Clash were obviously influenced by dub and reggae, and they paid homage to those styles very openly and respectfully, but to hear something that reminded me of a song like “Charlie Don’t Surf”—dancey, soulful, very beautiful, and kind of elegiac—it just made me smile. I literally said, “Joe Strummer for sure heard this song!” I like building a small lineage between my own listening experience and the listening experience of somebody I’ve been inspired by, and that’s what this song does for me. It puts me back in the sphere of influence. And it’s catchy."