surf rock

Reverb, riffs, and the rhythm of repetitive motion

By Rob Gordon

It was a slow Tuesday, just me, Dick, and Barry, arguing about whether The Ventures were better than Dick Dale. Barry said it didn't matter because "surf rock is just noodling," and I nearly threw him out of the store. Then I went for a run.\n\nHere's what I figured out on the Lakefront Trail that afternoon: surf rock is the most underrated running music there is, and it's underrated for the exact reason Barry dismissed it—because it doesn't demand anything from you except forward motion. No lyrics telling you how to feel. No vocal performance stealing your attention. Just propulsion. Just rhythm and reverb and the kind of repetitive guitar riffs that sync up with your footfalls until you're not sure if you're running to the music or the music is running through you.\n\nThe thing about surf rock—especially the modern stuff, the Bass Drum of Death and La Luz tracks that show up in these playlists—is that it sits in this perfect pocket between 140-160 BPM. That's not slow enough to zone out and not fast enough to blow up your heartrate on an easy run. It's the tempo of sustainable effort. It's what mile 6 sounds like when you've finally stopped thinking about mile 6.\n\nAnd yeah, there's the obvious California fantasy element—running along Lake Michigan pretending you're on the PCH—but that's not why I keep coming back to it. I keep coming back because surf rock understands something about repetition that most running music doesn't. Guitar riffs that cycle and build. Drums that lock in and don't let go. It's hypnotic without being boring. FIDLAR makes you feel faster without actually speeding up. Levitation room turns a tempo run into a trance state.\n\nDick Dale was better than The Ventures, by the way. Barry's still wrong. But he's also started running to surf rock, so maybe there's hope for him yet.

13 playlists

Top 10 Surf rock Running Songs

These tracks appear across multiple curated surf rock running playlists.

  1. 1. Heartbroken, In Disrepair — Dan Auerbach
  2. 2. Rolling On — The Murlocs
  3. 3. Sure As Spring — La Luz
  4. 4. Surf 2 — New Candys
  5. 5. 80's Men — Bummers
  6. 6. Alexa! — The Cool Greenhouse
  7. 7. All The Time — Radium Dolls
  8. 8. American Nightmare - New Found Sounds Studios 1981 — Misfits
  9. 9. Antidote — Bad Nerves
  10. 10. Applause — Liily

Frequently Asked Questions

What pace works best for surf rock running playlists?

Easy to moderate pace, basically anything where you're not gasping for air. Surf rock sits in that 140-160 BPM sweet spot, which translates to about 9-10 minute miles for most people, maybe faster if you're efficient. This isn't sprint interval music—it's for runs where you want to settle in and let the rhythm do the work. Bass Drum of Death will keep you honest on a tempo run without destroying you. Save the 180 BPM garage punk for your track workout.

Best surf rock artists to start with for running?

Start with Bass Drum of Death—they show up in four of these playlists for a reason. It's surf rock with enough garage punk edge to keep you engaged. Then La Luz, especially if you want something with more melody and less chaos. King Tuff if you like your surf rock with a psych-rock chaser. FIDLAR if you need something scrappier. Honestly, the beauty of this category is that you can't really go wrong. Just avoid the traditional Dick Dale stuff unless you're doing beach sprints, which you're not, because you live in Chicago.

Does surf rock work for long runs or is it too repetitive?

Look, if you think surf rock is too repetitive for long runs, I have bad news about what running actually is. The repetition is the point. Those cycling guitar riffs match the repetitive motion of your stride—it's hypnotic in the best way. I've done 10-milers with nothing but these playlists and the repetition becomes meditative around mile 5. The Levitation Room tracks especially—they build and layer without ever demanding you pay attention. Your brain can wander while your legs keep working. That's exactly what you want at mile 8.

What's the BPM range for surf rock running playlists?

Most of these playlists hover between 140-160 BPM, which is that goldilocks zone for steady-state running. Not recovery pace slow, not interval training fast. It's the tempo of a conversational run that doesn't feel conversational anymore. Some tracks from Death Lens and the punk-surf crossover stuff might spike into the 160-170 range, but generally this category lives in sustainable effort territory. If you need slower, you're looking at the wrong genre. If you need faster, throw on some garage-rock—it's a related category for a reason.

Why is there a playlist called 'RETURN OF THE PUNK ROCK SURF MONSTER'?

Because someone finally understands that surf rock and punk rock are cousins who grew up in different neighborhoods. Surf rock has the reverb and the instrumental focus, punk has the energy and the stripped-down ethos—combine them and you get exactly what a tempo run needs. That playlist knows what it's doing. FIDLAR lives in that space. So does Bass Drum of Death. It's surf rock for people who don't want to feel too California about it, who need a little more snarl with their reverb. It's probably the best playlist title in this whole category.