Young Floridian’s Surfer Blood brought a taste of their laidback sunny atmosphere to a gaggle of indie fans everywhere last year with their single “Swim”, which was named 37th best track on Pitchfork’s 100 Best Songs of 2009. Previously unheard of for the most part, Surfer Blood is enjoying quite the wave of small success as of late, and released their full-length Astro Coast in January amongst very positive reviews.
“Swim” is almost a mantra, peppered with power chords and bouncy reverb, just thrashy enough to conjure Japandroids but somehow bright enough to bring on comparisons to 60s pop a la Brian Wilson. The hype has been swirling around this West Palm Beach surf pop band, but surprisingly (and most unlikely, if previous examples of much-hyped indie bands are to be the example) their album stands on it’s own two feet, even if “Swim” didn’t exist on the record.
“Floating Vibes” incorporates a Vampire Weekend-aesthetic with West African rhythms and world-ish jangly bits, but that’s where the comparison stops. This album listens like it was made it be a classic, an indie pop thrasher that you want to hate (because it sounds a bit like albums you already love: Pinkerton and Keep It Like A Secret) but end up adoring every song. Their performance promises to be chock full of fuzzy guitar feedback and larger-than-life vocal swells, while somehow managing to represent their stomping ground, embodying the epitome of their laidback south Florida roots.
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