One Punk’s Guide to Surf Music By Sean Carswell

Originally appeared in Razorcake 132 (Feb./March 2023) and 133 (April/May 2023)Illustrations by Brad BeshawLayout by Todd Taylor Surf and RazorcakeHere’s a bit of trivia. One of the first bands the two founders of the Razorcake print zine went to see together was Man Or Astro-Man? Todd and I first met in Flagstaff, Ariz. in 1994. At the time, the local live music scene was classic rock cover bands and Grateful Dead wannabes. As bad as this may seem, it was worse. I was starved to see live music that moved me.In August, 1995, Todd got word that Man or Astro-Man? were playing in Phoenix, which is two hours south of Flagstaff. This being pre-internet days, we weren’t able to buy tickets in advance. We made plans to get to the venue five hours early. We figured that would be enough time to buy tickets before the show sold out. The only hiccup came on the drive down. An overturned semi closed the I-17 for two hours. But no worries—we still got there three hours early and got in. Just gettin