It marked the return of longtime drummer Hugh O'Neill to the band, after a forced leave of absence to deal with heroin addiction.

head Larry Livermore being dissatisfied with the production techniques on the band's prior album, 1994's Beat Off, which producer Ben Weasel had insisted on keeping basic.

In addition to the title track, which was co-written by Weasel, and the Queers original "Quit Talkin'", the EP includes cover versions of Tommy James and the Shondells's "Mirage" and the Undertones' "Get Over You".

in 2006, the tracks from Surf Goddess were included on a reissue of their 1995 album Move Back Home, having been remixed and remastered by recording engineer Mass Giorgini.

[4] Before leaving Chicago, Livermore and King made plans for another recording session later that summer with Giorgini at his Sonic Iguana Studios in Lafayette, Indiana, to work on songs with fuller arrangements.

[14][15] The Queers' cover version of Tommy James and the Shondells' 1967 single "Mirage" was originally recorded and released on Beat Off, and was re-recorded for Surf Goddess.

Joe King/Queer once said 'I could never understand why people can't love Black Flag and the Beach Boys and Lesley Gore'; on Surf Goddess, the Queers do their best job thus far of synthesizing the sound of these three artists.

[12] In his 2014 book Punk USA: The Rise and Fall of Lookout Records, author Kevin Prested called it "a solid stopgap on the way to the band's next album.

artists in rescinding their master tapes and licensing rights from the label, invoking a clause in their contract citing delinquent royalty payments.