Urge Surfer – Camp Club (self released)
Crafting dark electronic pop hooks from personal experience Buffalo New York duo Urge Surfer has released double A single Camp Club with tracks Night Owl and Cherry Pick
Artist: Urge Surfer
Release: Camp Club
Label: Self released
Release date: 31 August 2026
Find it: Bandcamp
Acting as a scrapbook of a 3 day writing retreat ‘Urge Surfer Summer Camp’ the 2 track release from multi-instrumentalist duo Urge Surfer is a hazy, synth-driven capture of creativity and collaboration.
Rooted in the modular synths Jordan Maelyn Smith and Chelsea O’Donnell (also of the band Stress Dolls) Night Owl and Cherry Pick give different slants on their sound. Across the pairing we get samples of after-dark insect chirp, a proclaimation of soul-selling to rock n roll, and a sense of the experimentation-meets-summoning approach taken.
Night Owl contrasts that safety indicator of insect chirps with a deep, booming rhythm while lyrically this could be both literal or metaphor about the solitude, freedom, and focus of the bird of the title.
Where the first track relishes the darkness melodically and lyrically, its partner Cherry Pick shimmers with brightness, strobes as the light gets in. There is something of Haiku Salut in the glitch and sparkle of the synths, which sit as a balance to the heavier introspection in the lyrics.
Fully formed and polished these tracks belie the short session which led to their creation, which speaks of the strength of creative partnership and musicianship going on with Urge Surfer. They say the project is about ‘creative freedom in modular synthesis as a medium for conjuring dark pop hooks out of personal experience’ and these tracks embody that completely.
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Camp Club by Urge Surfer is out digitally now.
If you liked this, you might like our intro to Strange Loops in issue 1 of Popoptica in print. A few copies are left available via Bandcamp.
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Find more new music on the site here and issue 1 of Popoptica in print is available via Bandcamp.
Sarah Lay
A long-standing music journalist she's also co-founder of independent record label Reckless Yes, an author of novels, and when not messing around with words and music, a digital strategist.
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