SURFER BLOOD: ASTRO COAST

[rating:4]

Surfer Blood: Astro Coast
Label: Kanine Record
Release Date: January 19,2010

I have a tendency to review “guitar bands” because that’s what I generally listen to and love. With a name like Surfer Blood, I had a preconceived notion that the West Palm Beach, Florida band, would summon Dick Dale style guitar and brutally aggressive HEALTH drums. In other words, Laurel Canyon’s answer to Japandroids.

Well, I was half right. Astro Coast, the debut album from Surfer Blood , released on Kanine Records this month , definitely has a laid back California vibe and that  big surf rock/spy soundtrack hollow body tone and textures feel you might expect, but not right off the bat. Track names “Harmonix” and “Neighbour Riffs” suggest  these West Palm Beach lads know their way around the neck and  listening to only the first 5 seconds of the first 3 songs makes it crystal. Stylistically, some gratuitous Pavement influence rears it’s pretty head on the massively fun opening track “Floating Vibes” but by the album’s close , the band manages to channel a slew of influences from the British Invasion (think The Who & The Kinks), Brian Wilson, The Cars, Weezer (pre-Green album), The Shins, Band Of Horses and countless others not so apparent (Creeper Lagoon, anyone?) For a guitar band in 2010, this is without a doubt, a good quality.  The track “Swim “is an obvious single with big wave power chords and sun kissed vocals but “Take It Easy” stands out as having  the most beauty, brains and personality on the record . Doing afro-pop tinged indie rock as good as Vampire Weekend, and letting you know what Broken Bells might have sounded like if Mercer revisited Oh, Inverted World style production, the sunny mid tempo number shifts, shimmies and takes a seat in all the right places. For a band that has only been together slightly longer than  The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, Surfer Blood’s Astro Coast is both promising and surprising. With any luck, these guys will at least survive to be the musical guests on O’Brien’s new show in the Fall (fingers crossed).

-Casey Bowers