I got a good listen to Surfer Blood’s “Astro Coast” and I have to tell you it’s a smooth composite of indie rock elements with great lyrical content and melodic moments. “Catholic Pagans” begins with a familiar guitar melody from April Steven’s “Teach Me Tiger.” It then redirects to a smooth multi- guitar arrangement into nice hooks along with some cool vocals similar to a very young Joey Ramon but front-man JP Pitts has more dynamic tonal range and expression.
There is a flavor Surfer Blood creates with their music. It’s not your typical straight out of the package indie rock from a city metropolis. They are from the Palm Beach, Florida area and I don’t like to ping geographical influences to music, however, these boys have great indie rock feel and appeal with a touch of Florida sprinkles. No, they are not singing about waves and babes but just cool stories. They offer much more with some grit and raw sounding treatments and melodic vocals put intelligently together into a cohesive blend of alternative rock sounds.
“Slow and Fast Jabroni” (two tracks) have nice multi-guitar elements and melodies that interchange and gets you in thought mode then down to head-bobbing and hip swaying. I like “Neighbor Riffs” as this track takes you into a journey with nice necklaces of guitar sounds, smooth bass and drums then transitions to a lovely track called “Harmonix”, which is one of my favs. It’s very expressive and conjures depth. “Swim” is a sweet treat from Surfer Blood and it has subtle Caribbean effect but it’s lead by a heavy rock tempo and some strong vocals. Surfer Blood have created a well made album that paves the way for them into musical expression and cool-n-smooth indie delights.
Words: Walter Burciaga
