Album Review

The Florida based band Surfer Blood made a pretty big splash late last year when their debut single “Swim” became a bit of an underground hit. The single preceded the full-length Astro Coast by a number of months, but it certainly hinted at what was to come.

After reading about the band I made sure to check them out live when they rolled through San Diego with Japandroids a couple of months ago. Needless to say, I was impressed. For a band that was already riding on a pretty large wave of hype, they certainly delivered the goods. Their songs have the rare quality of being immediately catchy without suffering from being too simple. The Pixies comparisons they have garnered are certainly appropriate, but I think a slightly better description may be a more experimental version of Weezer. And I’m talking the Blue Album/Pinkerton version of Weezer here, not the sinking ship that band has become since they reformed in the late ’90s.

Surfer Blood capitalize on the same factor which lead to the success of early Weezer. They are young, energetic, fun and write exceptionally memorable songs which borrow musical elements equally from the past and present. Perhaps the oddest aspect of Astro Coast is how much of a ’90s artifact it sounds like. Its choruses explode all over the place, the songs are drenched in reverb and echo, and the guitars are way out front. It sounds like something Butch Vig or Steve Albini would have produced back in the day.

The album launches out of the gates with the spectacular “Floating Vibes,” as good an opening track as I’ve heard in ages, a mid-tempo charmer with a freak-out guitar solo a la “Cut Your Hair” by Pavement. This opening track sets the template for what’s to come, namely catchy guitar lines, interesting arrangements, and a perfect mix of shoegaze and rock. The aforementioned “Swim” ups the rock ante with its gigantic choruses. It certainly exists on the loud/quiet/loud structure of ’90s songwriting, but it turns that model on its head with a handful of odd bridges. “Take It Easy” slows the album down with more of an ’80s Smiths feel. This segues perfectly into one of the album’s most experimental tracks, “Harmonix,” which has a bit of a Joy Division feel to it. This is also about the spot on the record when you realize these kids must have one hell of an album collection. Maybe pirated MP3’s is a more likely call with their generation. Regardless, they have obviously done their homework in the listening arena.

“Neighbour Riffs” is an instrumental which sounds like a Pixies track missing the Frank and Kim vocals. “Twin Peaks,” another of the album’s strongest cuts, brings back the exploding choruses amidst some very slacker-esque vocals like: “Why is everything a chore?/ I’m too young to be defeated/ Let’s make fun of the video store/ With Blue Velvet and other titles.” The tail end of the album loses a bit of its momentum, but concludes in grand fashion with the excellent “Catholic Pagans.” Another sure-fire singalong hit overflowing with plenty of ironic vocals. Plus this one features some seriously soaring harmonies as well.

Even though Vampire Weekend is stealing the spotlight this month with their sophomore effort, Contra, it is my opinion that Astro Coast simply crushes it like a boulder would a smurf. Contra has its moments, but overall it feels like a bunch of kids yearning to impress the adults. Astro Coast, on the other hand, is pure juvenile abandon and guitar-driven bliss. It’s a simple formula, but it’s a formula which always works. Contra may garner more critical accolades, but it won’t win the battle of jumping up and down and singing along.

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