theundergroundjukebox

Nada Surf

For the first review I thought i'd begin with a band currently playing in my MP3 list.

[ *waves to kyl even though its highly unprofessional* hi! yes. do drop by!!! and bring friends! ]

Nada Surf

Nada Surf has been around for ten years, with 6 albums under their indie belts - but is only now steadily gaining a fan following outside of Europe. For the past ten years, after the release of the stellar EP; Popular, (check it out!!) Matthew Caws, Daniel Lorca and Ira Elliot - while enjoying a slavish fan following across the pond, were absolutely unheard of anywhere else. But now, thanks to their recent album, the weight is a gift, word has finally spread and reached Asia and the US

Here's giving you Nada Surf.

Their official site, NadaSurf.com ( go figure) boasts the rave review for their album, Let Go (2002) :"...an excellent rainy-afternoon album, full of gentle and melancholic beauty — Nada Surf show enough panache to leave most of their Nineties-rock peers eating hot dust." — Rolling Stone

excellent rainy afternoon album?
- perhaps another way of saying :stylish yet slightly boring?-

Anyway if the song inside of love from Let go was anything to go by, i'd say Nada Surf had finally made themselves 'saleable'. But it seems salebility came with a price.

Originality

Because, let's face it, the lyrics of Bacardi, from their 1998 album the proximity effect were so much better.
With vocals strongly reminiscent of Coldplay's Chris Martin and simple, slightly boring beat's :inside of love did not make as much of an impression as did the tracks from their lastest offering, the weight is a gift.

Here, the band's experimentation seems to have played of on tracks like concrete bed, in the mirror and imaginary friends. The foot-tapping sounds of Do it again make you automatically start nodding along as he chants, "c'mon c'mon let's do it again". No lyrical genius there, but the other songs on the album, like the blankest year make up for that.

Armies walk, All is a game and you're legs grow were alright.Not bad but they were not good enough to make me sit up and listen either. They do grow on you though. All in all, I'd say the song with the highest re-play factor would be Always love. But be forewarned. It get's stuck in your head! And don't replay it too many times - it failed the "repeat mode" test!

Conclusion: Their earlier stuff was much more original. More's the pity! However you'll enjoy them if you like easy listening indie like the perishers and be sure to check out their cover of OMD's if you leave - which was my favourite track of all.

listening type : easy
lyrics : moderately good
overall : 7/10

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More about the band

Genre : Indie - in the most definitionally correct sense of the word. After their brushes with Big label's and the adjacent politicking they decided to have Seattle based Barsuk Records release let go and have stuck with them ever since.


Old Gold's : Karmic (1995)
High Low ( 1996)
The Proximity Effect (1998)
North 6 Street ( 1999)
Let Go ( 2002)
The Weight Is A Gift ( 2005)

posted by kayjal sandya @ 7:19 AM