For the Record - 02/17/10

I was lucky enough to catch Surfer Blood — the hyped Floridian indie pop band that admittedly does not surf — this past New Year’s Eve.

Actually, the band took the stage when the new year began, counting down the remaining seconds of 2009 in a disappointingly unaffected manner. Fortunately, as the tunes began, the energy level of Surfer Blood and the audience picked up, peaking in bohemian glory with hit single “Swim (to reach the end).”

As a matter of fact, just as the new member to the Kanine Records family was poised to rock the Cameo Galley in Brooklyn, N.Y., a buddy of the band tapped me on the shoulder:

“We are filming the music video for ‘Swim’ and [lead singer] JP is going to surf the crowd up to the stage. Do you mind, like, dude, if you stand here and he launches off your shoulders?” I am now preserved eternally at 2:46 in the video­.

“Swim” is a powerful pop song driven by purposeful power chord strumming. The repeated guitar strum that opens up the song catches the listener off guard, and quickly leads into drowned-out, reverb-laden vocals. The sound is abrasive and startling, but, damn, is it fun to play air guitar to. And the song earns the pop label in the chorus, where a new peak is reached as JP (John Paul Pitts) belts out some “oh’s” and melodic bells lead the way to a decided chord progression.

My personal favorite song off the album is “Floating Vibes,” which starts with a melodic riff that, through knob turning, remains perfectly distorted and grungy. The guitar sets up the vocal melody of the song, and JP effortlessly takes over.

“Astro Coast” is a guitar-driven album. “Floating Vibes,” which is also the album opener, makes that point early on. Between the screaming guitar interludes, the noisy guitar solo that graces the middle of the track, the thumping chords and the before mentioned melodic riffage — which reminds me of a slower version of Sonic Youth’s guitars — Surfer Blood shows off their guitar playing chops.

But the display of skill does not end there. On “Harmonix,” the band uses, well, harmonics to drive the song along. It is a unique adoption of the guitar technique that is usually reserved for soloing. On other songs, like “Fast Jabroni,” the guitar almost assumes the back seat, and the keyboard and strings take over. The song uses this blend of instruments to create an epic sound similar to pervasive icons Arcade Fire. Of course, the song features a guitar solo, which closes out the standard three-minute pop song.

For the most part, however, “Astro Coast” is compared to artists before the time of Arcade Fire — where guitar is the featured instrument. Almost every review of the album ties the sound to the early Weezer days, and that resemblance is undeniable. But the melodic yet distorted riffs that appear on so many of the album’s songs remind me of indie rock legends The Pixies and Sonic Youth.

The vocals are not as harsh and the production value is higher, but Surfer Blood definitely have that punk-pop (but mostly pop) sound that is so desirable of late. And the resulting album is a fast-paced, fun listen. Okay, the album shifts down a gear for six minutes during “Slow Jabroni,” but the breather is welcomed!