I'll never wholeheartedly agree with the argument that "Heavy Metal is just Surf Rock with distortion," but I can't in good faith say the people who do argue that have no point to their argument. What I *will* stand on my 3 legs over the Bass line being what makes or breaks either subgenre.
Like... you can't tell me Joe Jackson's "Got The Time" from '79 isn't a Surf Rock banger. If you did, you'd be right, The Search Engine says its New Wave, but that bassline has ready to move to Santa Monica and shred waves with the Grunge Bros.
Crank up the distortion or stab your speaker with a knife (how they actually invented distortion in the 50s lmao), give the drummer a 2nd kick petal and 3rd speedball, and make sure you rush every goddamn downbeat (because its metal af to rush the downbeat, your band director can fight me over it), and suddenly its a B-side on an Anthrax album 10+ years later.
Having their top song on streaming apps be a cover is kinda rough, especially for a member of the big 4 of Thrash Metal, but it does show how their sound was a huge inflection point for all genres of music, especially with their collaboration w/ Public Enemy being as influential as it was to the Nu Metal movement of the 00s.
You know what Public Enemy and Joe Jackson have in common?
They knew how to write a good fuckin' bassline.
