When Brian Wilson, Joey Ramone, and Jimmy Buffet all gathered around a table at Sammy Hagar’s “Cabo Wabo Cantina” to talk about creating a song or two together, it may be a safe bet that Dave and Jeff, (aka The Surf Swirlies), were close by and quite possibly stole the idea and took it back to Chicago with them.

At least that’s the story that I heard, but it could just be a rumor. Never the less, not long after that Dave and Jeff found themselves pawning their surfboards for instruments. They quickly began to work on their debut album, Beach Party, with the idea in place to bring the 60’s rock-n-roll music they loved and grew up with on into the new millennium. They unleashed a series of fun-loving, beach flavored songs to the public, gaining nationwide airplay on college radio stations and scoring three hits in San Diego with their tracks Surfin’ On A Saturday Night, Ocean Side, and the albums title track, Beach Party. Beach Party also helped to gain The Surf Swirlies national attention when it made it into the top 100 of the CMJ chart.

Critics seemed to love the new surf sound coming from the sunny shores of Lake Michigan. Reverb Central stated, “This is a new hybrid in surf music with a 90’s twist,” while the best compliment came when GirlPunkZine, which stated, “By perfectly combining their influence of the Beach Boys with the Ramones, The Surf Swirlies created the perfect soundtrack for summer.”

Hot on the success of the singles, they quickly returned to the studio and cut an EP that featured some of the outtakes from the sessions for the debut album, as well as some new tracks including Little Motor Scooter, and Reggae By Baby, an instrumental that featured Dave’s daughter, Lyric, making her singing debut before she could even walk.

As they say, all good things must end, and while The Surf Swirlies never did officially call it quits, they did fade away into hibernation and went on with their lives, though they always remained friends. Dave and his family relocated, Jeff found country music and began to write country songs, but as fate would have it, the paths that both of them took led right back to where it all began.

And here they are today! With a new fan base looking for an escape route to the days of fun in the sun, Jeff and Dave have decided that now may just be the perfect time to put out some new material. Stay tuned, and the guys will see ya at the beach!!!!