Defunct Local Band Profile Series: The Inner City Surfers

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, giving us another opportunity to spotlight a randomly selected local metal, hard rock, or punk band from our inactive band links, and we have quite the band to look at this month! This group is one that local punk fans will be very familiar with from their accomplished runs over the past two decades, so here's what you need to know on them!

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The Inner City Surfers

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Punk

Lineup:

Dustin Jones (Jonesy Land, Bookclub), vocals/guitar
Dave Bahun (Bookclub, Room 206), guitar
Brad "Example" Lacell (Room 206, The Role Models), bass
Mikey Hawdon (Mikey & His Uke, Bookclub), drums

Audio/Video: The Inner City Surfers released four studio albums during their original run, including their self-titled debut CD (a.k.a. the "Blue Album") in 2000, "Laughing On The Outside" in 2002, "Time To Travel On" in 2005, and their self-titled "Black Album" in 2007. All are available on major streaming services nowadays, though physical CD copies are long since out of print. The guys also recorded and released one-off singles named "Let's Go Greyhounds" in 2008 and "Excess Express" in 2020, and ample videos of them in and out of concert can be found on YouTube and Facebook, from band-linked and fan sources alike, though the video quality is quite variable. Here is their music video for their 2007 single "What A Life"!

Info/Analysis: Originally active from 1999-2013, The Inner City Surfers became arguably the biggest local punk band of the 2000s as they grew in prominence, peaking with successful tour runs surrounding "The Black Album" release in the mid-late 2000s. While much of their early run isn't logged online on extant sites, they opened for major acts like Treble Charger, Jackyl, War, Strung Out, and Matthew Good on local stages, while also becoming regulars at Foggy Notions before their first closure in 2008. Band activity slowed as most members had spells living out of town, but they played live in fits and starts into the early 2010s (last doing so in December 2012), and members frequently collaborated even after their initial hiatus. The Surfers reunited in August 2019 for a 20th anniversary show at LopLops Lounge, and also recorded three songs at Mission Control Studios for the occasion, but only one was released in 2020, with the band falling inactive once more.

The Inner City Surfers were a fun band that effectively merged modern rock with folksy and rootsy influences and relatable lyrics about life in Northern Ontario, aided by each member's unique musical backgrounds yet undeniable chemistry, and as fans will attest, they improved progressively up to their final album cycle! Luckily for fans, everyone except Brad lives in town nowadays (and are bandmates anew in Bookclub), so a reunion could happen at any time if things line up the right way, but do check out their albums and extant videos to see what the guys brought to the table!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month in this series, our random selection has given us inactive local grunge/alternative solo project Kush Wood, so look for that on or around March 10th, and for a new news post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!