Genki Genki Panic Set to Release New Album

Atlanta surf band and 'anti-heroes' Genki Genki Panic will be releasing their new album "Dungeon Surf" on Sept. 9 with a release show at Painted Lady Tattoo Parlor that night.

Genki Genki Panic formed around 2013, as a one-off tribute to 60s novelty horror records and bands like Dick Dale, Mr. Bungle, The Deadly Ones. People started to respond to the band and their unique sense of sound, allowing it to become their main project. Over the past decade, it has morphed into its own thing, incorporating everything from grindcore to new wave, 90s noise rock, and movie scores. The band offers a form of music that is different and fresh.

Their website’s about page describes the band as “Atlanta’s own anti-heroes”. They could be considered that since they admitted that they have been on the road “pretty much nonstop since everything reopened in 2021”. Their newest album “Dungeon Surf” is a collection of updated versions of songs from the past few years. “It’s the culmination of hammering out these songs and playing 100+ shows a year in dive bars and festivals”.

When punk and metal bands scoffed at Genki Genki Panic’s “surf music”, they decided to start writing songs that were faster than all of the punk bands and had more notes than metal bands. “Dungeon Surf” is going to be an intense album because “almost every song is 200+bpm”. “We really wanted to push the boundaries and go 15 steps beyond what anyone else was doing,” they explained.

One of their favorite parts of creating the album was the fact that they record, mix, and master all of their music and videos themselves. The album art was done by Rotten Yellow, and is a call back to late 80s body horror movies and bands like Voivod and Obituary. The flyers that the band has for upcoming shows is also a tribute to old horror movies, as they have shared on their Instagram. Their Instagram page is filled with lovely tributes to classic horror.

“Dungeon Surf” is scheduled to release on Sept 9. The band is doing an album release show at Painted Lady Tattoo Parlor on Friday, Sept 9 and an Atlanta release show on Sept 10 at Burnt Hickory Brewery. As for other big projects on the way, the band recorded around 100 songs during the pandemic so they have a lot to pull from. “We’re releasing a 7’’ split with our friends the Jagaloons from NY in October, we have a digital-only Halloween EP coming out on late Oct, a vinyl reissue of our 2016 record Spooky Fingers, and a few side projects in the works”.