Depends, but here are my top ten bands for pre-sesh:
Hot Water Music
System of A Down
Deltron 3030
El-P
RJD2
Cat Empire
Talking Heads
Cradle of Filth
"Dog" Grisman
Old Crow Medicine Show
Or just NPR, especially if it's Science Friday or Marketplace
Depends on the waves, if they are small and it's more of a relaxing session i'll go with some Jack J, various Reggae artists, Slightly Stupid, Incubus, or Sublime. If the wave are bit larger, i'll throw on something heavier to get pumped, anything that rocks works really, but a few would be Chevelle, SOD, Metallica, Foo Fighters, or the hundreds of Punk CD's I own. Anything really, I just can't do country, no matter how many rednecks i'm surrounded by in FL, it just doesn't work for me.
Get Amped- Jeff the Brotherhood
Fun Waves - Band of Horses
Any day - Gaslight Anthem , Older Black Keys like the " Magic Potion" album,
Modest Mouse- "the moon and Antartica
Wilson Philips, Amy Grant, Bread, Michael Bolton, Nickelback, (any other singers who sound like they are taking a dump) and then all the stereotypical surfer stuff, donovan frankennutter, Jack "bedtime" Johnson, sublime, slightly stoopid, 311, bob marley, and other "irie" white kid reggae bands, like soja.