See You In The Pit: Nada Surf

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Nada Surf

(We covered Nada Surf last year, here's a reprint of that entry and an update of what the band's been up to for the past year.)

I've listened to a lot of music over the past few years since I've started writing about it more seriously than just in my personal blog. A lot of music.

And to be really honest with you, I've heard very few contenders with albums as utterly perfect as Nada Surf's last three offerings, The Proximity Effect, Let Go, and The Weight is a Gift.

The funny thing is, I would never name any of these as one of my favorites -- and yet there they sit on my playlist in their glimmering, glorious power pop perfection. Unassuming, patient, reliable, and heartbreaking.

Kind of like Nada Surf themselves.

Their story goes a little something like this: You may remember a little mid-90s alternative radio hit & MTV favorite called "Popular." Remember the video with the cheerleader and the guy in a suit lecturing her? ("Make sure to keep your hair spotless and clean. Wash it at least every two weeks! ONCE EVERY TWO WEEKS!") That was Nada Surf.

"Popular" had all the hallmarks dooming Nada Surf to one-hit wonderhood -- cute video, quirky lead vocals, snide lyrics half spoken and half sung -- and they almost ended up there.

So you may have heard this next part before, in a million variations: The band recorded their second full-length record, The Proximity Effect, for Elektra. The label didn't hear a hit, and the band refused to build one out of "Popular"-shaped blocks and were summarily dropped. To everyone's surprise, the album was subsequently released to critical and popular acclaim in Europe. The band later bought back the masters, released it themselves in the US, and toured relentlessly.

And then came Barsuk Records. Flush with the success of Death Cab for Cutie, the label became a welcome home for untethered quirky pop bands; Nada Surf was the first veteran band signed to the label, which released the aforementioned Let Go. The band's second offering on Barsuk, The Weight is a Gift, released in 2005, is impossibly better than Let Go, full of melancholy love songs and musings on growing older, settling down, and dodging the landmines of adulthood. Frontman Matthew Caws' voice is a little more weary; the songs a little more knowing. It's a tiny and near-imperceptible shift for the band, but it's definitely more than welcome.

Nada Surf's official website. Buy The Weight is a Gift from Amazon or check out Nada Surf's entire back catalog at the iTunes Music Store.

Shadows tags:nadasurf.

Posted by Little Miss Rock'n'Roll at 02.22.06 at 8:23 AM

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