These indie-rock lifers went from obscurity to scandal to a major-label deal in 10 months

Nick Rattigan and Jacob Rubeck knew something weird was afoot with their band Surf Curse when they saw a TikTok video about “Scooby-Doo’s” alleged polyamory subtext, soundtracked by their 2013 single “Freaks.” “We have a group chat with our manager, and she kept saying, ‘Oh my God, ‘Freaks’ is getting all these plays.’ But to be honest, we were kind of numb to it,” drummer and singer Rattigan said. Surf Curse had a solid if still-underground career, releasing three albums, including 2019’s “Heaven Surrounds You.” Why did the near decade-old “Freaks” take off now? Fortunately, ‘Freaks’ was a sticky record in the L.A. indie rock scene and the band had a dedicated following long before the TikTok moment, so we had a foundation to work from.” The left-field success of “Freaks” is a happy surprise for the band, but it also comes at a complicated moment for them. “There hasn’t been a moment in my life that even comes close to what was described in that post…The person who made the claim, whose identity I don’t know and whose privacy I want to respect, voluntarily retracted their statement against me and cleared my name…I want to make it clear we never made any threats to the page, legal or otherwise.” At the same time, Rattigan also denied two since-deleted anonymous accusations of him harassing fans at shows.