Video Premiere: Locals “Ride the Wave”

Distance can't stop good music, especially if it's the kind that inspires visions of surf, sand, and sunshine. That's what Locals members Matthew Young (guitar) and Adam Cantiello (guitar) decided when they began developing the concept for the surf-inspired rock band back in 2013. Matthew was in Los Angeles and Adam in Philadelphia, and from opposite coasts, they began sending each other their favorite surf records (The Beach Boys, The Ventures, “The Endless Summer” soundtrack, Growlers, Tijuana Panthers... ). Soon, their other close friends-turned-bandmates, Kurt Cain (vocals), Eric Camarota (bass), and Pat Degan (drums) joined the conversation, and the group decided to begin their own songwriting.

They all came together on the East Coast and crafted their first single, "Ride the Wave"—a song that makes you long for the sun-soaked days of summer when everything smells like salt and coconut sunblock. The infectious guitar riff and Cain's easy vocals suggest the influences of the many classic surf rock bands the members shared with one another years ago, and they ring poignantly nostalgic. The video itself uses footage from the 1965 film, The Beach Girls and the Monster—a campy horror and beach movie which features cheeky, bikini-clad girls, a sea monster, and an endless surf. What's there not to love?

It may still be a few months before summer graces us with its presence, but until then, follow Locals on Twitter and Instagram for a little sun-soaked relief.