Despite only bursting onto the local scene at the beginning of this year, Hobsons Bay Coast Guard have quickly asserted themselves as a must-see around town, thanks to their kaleidoscopic mishmash of groovy surf-pop and krautrocky psychedelia with anything and everything in between. Their latest single ‘Surf 1’ is HBCG at their most concise, but still comes packed with everything there is to love about the band - namely, their whacked-out songwriting style and maniacal energy.

‘Surf 1’ opens gently with some woozy guitar chords as a bass bubbles underneath, until we’re suddenly dumped beneath a wave of warped guitars, pummelling drums and hypnotic 60’s grooves. We’re finally brought up for air as co-vocalist Erik Scerba takes the lead with his soulful vocals, and the song opens up with stacked harmonies and crafty hooks aplenty.

The track briefly veers off and we’re thrown into a sea of dizzying guitars that build and shift, before 'Surf 1' swings back on course and rides itself out, full with colour and chaotic charm. The accompanying clip, created by the band at home in Melbourne, is an equally mesmerising affair that explodes with contagious energy, somehow managing to capture the glory of the track in one single camera angle.

To celebrate the release of ‘Surf 1’, we had a chat with the band to find out what they’ve been up to and whether or not they actually enjoy a trip to the beach as much as they’d like us to believe.

TJ: Hey guys, what’s the story behind Hobsons Bay Coast Guard?

HBCG: Well well, it’s a homage to Hobsons Bay. Erik’s mum asked him to house sit for a week in Altona so we decided it was a good way to start something fresh, something salty - something that may look like it’s having trouble swimming.

You’ve just dropped your latest single 'Surf 1' - wanna tell us a bit about the track?

'Surf 1' is the first song we wrote together as Hobsons Bay Coast Guard! So it’s a bit of a special one to us! It’s fun and easy compared to other tracks on the album but it definitely didn’t come as naturally as others. We stewed and toiled over different melodies for each section. But were really happy with the final outcome!

We think 'Surf 1' is perfect for: setting your hair dryer to the ‘cool’ setting and aiming it at your face on full blast. (Hint, try and keep your mouth open for a long as you can).

The brand new clip is pretty wild, how’d that all come about?

We wanted to make a surfy video set on the beach and threw a couple of ideas back and forth, but we quickly realised the big smoke was where our hearts truly stayed afloat. So we decided to film it in our backyard in Flemington - with not much space we borrowed the widest angled camera we possibly could and filmed ourselves a lot of times. Pre-planning was a must, but we definitely didn’t foresee the 300+ hours of single frame editing! Pweehwee glad that it’s all done and dusted now.

Can any of you actually surf?

I’ll answer that question with another question - have you ever made eyes with a dolphin while the sun is setting into the rash from your wetty on a winter's noon?

How’s the rest of the year looking for Hobsons Bay Coast Guard?

We are so humbled right now from the response from friends and family and future friends and future family with the couple of songs we’ve shared so far. For the rest of the year we’ll do another single, then the full shebang - LP. Also going to drop past Gold Coast for Bigsound in September! Hoping to play as many shows as possible!