Links:

Surfer Blood on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/surferblood
Kanine Records Home Page: http://kaninerecords.com/

Surfer Blood bring forth from the blue-green sea foam a sound not wholly original, yet still updated enough to call their own. Mixing in ’60s vocal styling, Indie-Rock/Brit-Power Pop guitar and drum hooks, a Surf-Rock feel (surprise), and even some British-influenced Shoegaze all at once. So, dispensing with the sea of music labels (a water pun… way too many more to come), let’s leave the lake bed and get to the substance of the album, shell we?

The record for the most part is a solid album, not allowing itself to be drugged out in the undertow of experimentation that makes many bands sound like just a studio band, yet able to play music in a hundred different styles but never having their own. Too many musicians reach for this in their first couple of bands as they search like lifeguards for a sound.  This being said, there is a single track that seems a bit out of place, awash in the band’s appreciation for British Shoegaze — a little ditty called “Harmonix.” Using guitar harmonics and arpeggios, spilling over mechanic drums , this track is more than a simple wave to early ’80s Cure.

The other tracks on Astro Coast are less of a direct borrowing , and more original in arrangement. Tracks of mention are “Anchorage” and “Catholic Pagans.”  The former track comes out noisy and poppy, diving right in with drums and ringing brass. The reverb guitars pour in and maintain a Beach Boys-meet-The-Smiths feel. Spilling on top of this are the echoic vocals evaporating and condensing over the 6+ minute voyage. The later track seeps in with ’60s ballad arpeggios and some guitar processing, and a vocal structure that is at once poppy and basic washes in to keep our appetites wetted.

According to the band’s MySpace page, Surfer blood swim in from Palm Beach, Florida. Meeting in their freshman year of college, Astro Coast was recorded in their dorm rooms, and this involved spending their college scholarship money to do so.  They will be spending the first part of the new year touring in support of the new album.

Bad water pun count: 16. yeah. Drink it in.

Links:

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down homepage: http://www.thaomusic.com/
Kill Rock Stars home page: http://www.killrockstars.com/

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down are truly fun band to listen to. Alternative, folk, ethnic (god I hate to use that word), and dancey. This 4^th release from the three-piece from Kill Rock Stars records is a gem to say the least. The 13 songs on the LP go by way too quickly. I have to go get the other releases now. Rats.

Vocally, Thao Nguyen reminds me a bit of Imogen Heap from Frou Frou (and from her solo work as well), but without the electronic effects, or maybe a somewhat less blues version of Fiona Apple. The musical backbone is provided by Thao on guitars,  Adam Thompson on bass and Willis Thompson on skins.  The music is well-crafted and full, leaving no gaps in the production at all. The fruits from the horns, violins, banjos, guitars, bass, and drums sit very well in the home-baked pie that Know Better, Learn Faster is. The bright production lends itself to the indie rock sound, almost drifting into an Americana feel at times. Sweet, personal and bare-bones vocals bring in a blues feel into the mix.

Tracks to check out would be “Give,” “Cool Yourself,” and “When We Swam,” although it is limiting to only note these 3; there isn’t a bad track on the release.

RIYL: Imogen Heap, Fiona Apple, almost any artist appearing in the Lilith Fair concerts.