That's right kids,
Nada Surf. Yep, the same band that sang the mid-nineties teenage anthem "Popular" (whose video was filmed at Bayonne High School). Nope, we're not talking about '90's alt, although we probably should, this Delorean is set on traveling back to '02/'03 when Nada Surf came out of nowhere to release a power pop gem in the vein of Big Star's
#1 Record.
One of the things that always struck me about
Let Go is it's relative lack of innovation. Don't get me wrong I'm all for innovative thinking of all sorts, but this is something different. Nada Surf aren't inventing a genre, or experimenting with studio theatrics or piling on Phil Spector layers of sound, no none of that is present on
Let Go. What you'll find here are catchy, hook laden pop songs thrown over mildly distorted power chords and glowing harmonies. Sound familiar, it should, as this is what was played on the radio when we were kids, when terrestrial radio still mattered.
Let Go is pop music for kids who hate pop music, kids raised on Tripping Daisy and Veruca Salt, kids who used to rent Sonic Youth albums from their public libraries and kids who still rock out to the Smashing Pumpkin's "Cherub Rock." It's oddly nostalgic for years not so far gone, yet still representative of post-millenial shifts in the musical landscape. The record kicks off with the "Blizzard of '77", a short story documenting the neurotic boredom of one stuck in a figurative blizzard, a place your just not sure how to get out of. Not to mention the lyrics which reflect on a youthful drug experience ("In the blizzard of 77 the cars were just lumps on the snow/ and then later, tripping in 7-11 the shelves were stretching out of control"). "Happy Kid" could've been sandwiched between Pavement's "Cut Your Hair" and Chavez's "Unreal is Here" on a mythical Maxell XL-II mix tape from your youth. Personally, I think that's a damn good thing.
While many have hailed
Let Go as an under rated masterpiece from a band almost everyone had written off, I was stunned to see that the rating mongers at
Pitchfork(3.8) chose to exercise their critical backwash by urinating on a record that 5 years later is as catchy and bouncy and exciting as it was when I was a fresh faced 18 year old bound for college. Any review that spends more than half it's time shit talking a band's efforts from 7 years prior, and limits the album under review to a few worthless bullet points isn't really worth reading anyway. Another reason why you shouldn't
always listen to P4K.
On a positive note, peep a few tracks from
Let Go and judge for yourself.
Nada Surf- Blizzard of '77Nada Surf- Blonde on BlondeNada Surf- Happy Kid
For those unfamiliar, this is the logo of mid-90's reverb loving indie rockers Chavez. You know, Matt Sweeney's old band. They were pretty much the coolest, most jaded group of New York indie rockers this side of VU and the groups 1996 record (and last studio release)Ride the Fader is a ninties indie-alt rock classic on par Crooked Rain... and I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One. In fact, if you like Pavement and Yo La Tengo, you'll probably love Chavez. (That mid-90's Matador roster was so fucking bad ass.) Be sure to check out the classic video for "Unreal is Here", which plays as a faux-retrospective to the career Chavez could have had if the public wasn't so busy lapping up Brian McKnight records and inflating Teddy Riley's ego. Rock on Matt Sweeney, just stay away from Billy Corgan and anything rhyming with Swan.
