This weekend, Slum Beach Posse’s “The Ocean” takes over Skratch N Sniff’s Alternative Mix as ThePier.org Song of the Week, leading a packed 30-song episode that moves between new alternative releases, reggae-rock, indie, rock and the remixes that have long defined SNS.
Featured in Segment 4 of Alternative Mix #716, airing the weekend of September 19, 2026, “The Ocean” brings together DENM, Jesse James Pariah, Landon McNamara and Benny Ranks, the core crew behind Slum Beach Posse.
The song arrives as part of the newly released Slum Beach Posse Vol. 2, an 11-track project released through Slum Beach Records in partnership with Controlled Substance Sound Labs. The record reunites the same group of friends whose sessions on Oahu helped turn Slum Beach Posse from a loose creative experiment into a collective with tens of millions of streams behind it.
THE PIER SONG OF THE WEEK: SLUM BEACH POSSE — “THE OCEAN”
Surfing, Hawaii and coastal life have been woven through the collective since its beginning, but on “The Ocean,” the water becomes something bigger than scenery. DENM and the crew use it as a way of looking at the changes that come with life, whether things are peaceful, turbulent or somewhere in between.
“If you really watch the ocean through the seasons and the years, you learn a lot about the ebbs and flows of life. Some days are warm and calm, some days are cold and stormy, some days are pure fun. Just learn to ride the tides as they come and go. Life is like the ocean, so we wrote a song about it,” DENM says.
It is a simple idea, but that simplicity works. Instead of fighting every change in the current, “The Ocean” is about learning how to move with it.
That perspective feels especially fitting for Slum Beach Posse. DENM, Landon McNamara, Jesse James Pariah and Benny Ranks originally came together through informal recording sessions at McNamara’s home on Hawaii’s North Shore. Those sessions produced Slum Beach Posse Vol. 1, while the second volume grew out of another stretch of communal writing and recording on Oahu.
“The Ocean” sits near the end of Vol. 2, surrounded by songs that pull from reggae, alternative music, hip-hop and the loose surf-culture energy that connects the entire project. It also lands naturally inside this week’s Alternative Mix, which spends much of its six segments bouncing between genres rather than staying locked into any one definition of alternative music.
ALTERNATIVE MIX #716
The show opens with a run of SNS-style flips. Oasis’ “Wonderwall” gets the Fitch & Hexl treatment, followed by Phantogram covering Cold War Kids’ “Hang Me Up To Dry.” Vampire Weekend’s “A-Punk” gets reworked by Evalution, Little Image’s “Out Of My Mind” gets a Colony House remix, and K.Flay’s “Ants” closes out Segment 1.
Segment 2 starts with Gorillaz’ “Feel Good Inc.” Heritage Remix before shifting into The Unlikely Candidates’ “Lil Psycho.” Sombr’s “Back To Friends” gets a DJ Dark remix, Fitz and the Tantrums’ “Out Of My League” is reworked by Arcando, and Slightly Stoopid and G. Love team up on “Back Seat Drivin’” to close the segment.
The third stretch moves from Twenty One Pilots’ “Ride” Jaydon Lewis Remix into New Constellations’ “Hot Blooded,” followed by the Disco Machiine remix of Royal Blood’s “Trouble’s Coming.” The Chainsmokers take on Lola Young’s “Messy”, while Fontaines D.C.’s “Marianne” brings the segment home.
Blink-182’s “I Miss You” Two Friends Remix kicks off Segment 4 before Slum Beach Posse’s “The Ocean” takes the spotlight for ThePier.org. From there, Cannons’ “Fire For You” gets a Tiësto remix, Glass Animals’ massive “Heat Waves” gets reworked by Seiren, and Dead Poet Society’s “Cold” rounds out one of the episode’s strongest stretches.
Segment 5 goes back to the 2000s with the Fourth Co remix of Weezer’s “Beverly Hills” and Kasum’s take on Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life.” Almost Monday joins the mix with “No More Regrets,” followed by the Luke Wood remix of Peter Bjorn and John’s indie staple “Young Folks” and Strange Case’s “Waiting For The Weekend.”
The final segment keeps the format moving right to the end. Incubus’ “Drive” gets an Alejandro remix, followed by honestav featuring mgk on “Crash First.” Matt Maeson’s “Hallucinogenics” gets flipped by Benelidan before LEAP’s “Exit Signs” provides another dose of new alternative rock. Finally, Wet Leg’s endlessly replayable “Chaise Longue” gets the Judah remix treatment to close Alternative Mix #716.
Across all six segments, this week’s show is a pretty accurate snapshot of what Skratch N Sniff does best. There are familiar alternative records turned inside out by remixers, newer artists sitting comfortably next to bands that have been staples of the format for decades, and songs coming out of scenes that don’t always fit neatly underneath the “alternative” label.
Right in the middle of it all is Slum Beach Posse.
With “The Ocean,” DENM, Jesse James Pariah, Landon McNamara and Benny Ranks take something that has always been central to the collective’s identity and turn it into a reminder that sometimes the only thing you can do is learn how to ride whatever tide comes next.
