# Album of the Week: Surfer Blood’s ‘Pythons’

- Link: https://indierockcafe.com/2013/06/album-of-the-week-surfer-bloods-pythons/
- Published: 2013-06-12T05:22:45-04:00
- Author: Max Hammer

by Devin William Daniels

**Surfer Blood**‘s debut, _Astro Coast_, was one of the most promising indie rock
albums of the past few years. With an excellent pop sensibility, keen musicianship
and a proven ear for a great tone, they were clearly on the rise. The band was the
indie music equivalent to a NBA team prospect with perfect height, athleticism and
basketball IQ – if they could just pull all the elements together, they’d be a force
to reckon with. With expecations high and a major label now in on the action, their
second LP, _Pythons_, doesn’t completely realize the band’s potential, but it’s 
a fantastic pop record with songs that will grow on you in surprising ways.

Despite the band’s name, this isn’t surf music (not in the tradition of **Dick Dale**
nor the surf music revival). Given the album’s emphasis of perfect pop structure,
the closest surf analog is probably the **Beach Boys**, though you’ll hear more 
obvious harks to the other pop/rock kings, the Beatles (frontman **J.P. Pitts**‘
yelps on “Blair Witch,” seemingly channelling **Paul McCartney**). The **Orlando**-
based group does bring a **California** sound, but with its elements of slippery
guitar licks and contained sonic freakouts, it’s less beach front property, and 
more San Fernando Valley suburbia, recalling the feel of the early, fantastic **
Weezer** albums. I’m sure some will label it a sophomore slump, but I think, more
than anything, it only further confirms that this is a growing band on the rise —
and it’s worth remembering (see the last indie darlings to truly make it big, the**
National**) that it usually takes more than two albums to reach the summit.

As much as this is a pop record, it’s also a guitar record. The guitar occupies 
a strange place in the current musical consciousness. On the one hand it’s almost
lame — the symbol of a certain outdated but still omnipresent brand of “cool.” It’s
the “cool” of a lost generation of rock fans, chased after in the dim light of bonfire
parties by frat bros with acoustics and a few covers (or worse, hackneyed originals).
The covers are usually from the 90s alt rock boom, and the instrument itself seems
to have devolved into a relic and cautionary tale of that genre’s precipitous fall
to irrelevance and machismo.

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 |    |  On the other hand, it’s the symbol of the musical counter culture. Mainstream music and rock music have become increasingly distinct formats, while pop music has largely abandoned the role of the guitar almost completely, except for the occasional cheese-stuffed solo that ignites mostly cringes from lovers of the iconic instrument. In this environment, it’s easy to forget that the guitar was once as mainstream as it any one element could be; it was _the_ unrivaled vehicle for popular music expression. In recent years, the guitar has been seriously under-utilized in a role that it thrived in and dominated for decades.

Surfer Blood’s _Pythons_ is an infectious reminder, and a clear example, of just how suited the electric guitar is for the job. Undoubtably, there’s a long and honored tradition of guitar pop in the indie music world; in fact, for many years, it is where guitar pop survived – and there’s plenty of great music to support that reality. Overall, Surfer Blood offer up some of the best guitar and some of the best pop of 2013.

Get _Pythons_ on CD or as a MP3 deluxe download from Amazon

 |

The album’s highlight track, “Weird Shapes,” starts with a thrilling guitar riff
that would have dominated all five minutes of plenty of bands’ songs, but after 
only 17 seconds, we’re treated to a multi-faceted verse that never stops developing.
A great vocal line pairs with synth and guitar with terrific effect. Pop music is
often thought to be mostly about repetition, but “Weird Shapes” demonstrates that
great pop is really about growth and surprise. Instead of dwelling on any of the
excellent parts or melodies, the song keeps throwing in something new through the
chorus. “Weird Shapes” even manages a third part without killing the momentum, which
the band does by building and expanding on what’s come before instead of diverging
for the sake of diverging. The verse/chorus form is oft-rejected or expanded for
more uncommon forms, but it’s often that I hear what should be a perfect pop song
dragged down by an inferior bridge or third section that seems to have been written
just because. _Pythons_ not only manages a solid verse/chorus pairing on almost 
every track, when the band expands on that structure, it’s almost always for the
best.

This approach wouldn’t work if the new sounds weren’t as good as the old sounds;
but they are, and soon we’ve forgotten about the song-that-could-have-been, had 
the first 17 seconds looped for three minutes. It’s a testament to great melodies
and simple harmonies – the bricks of appealing pop music. With the philosophy that
the point of music is to provide as many of those elements as possible in ten songs,
Pitts and the gang keep the songs moving and deliver them jam-packed.

Even when we aren’t treated to as many elements and variations, it’s addition by
subtraction. “I Was Wrong” starts with the kind of vague arpeggio that could start
a million indie rock songs, and most of the time would build in volume and intensity
if not much else. Surfer Blood, however, always seem to be moving foward and quickly
offer a great chorus and verse. Verse/chorus/verse/chorus is pretty much all the
song does, but it manages all the release and transitory power of a bridge through
a short but pristine guitar line without dragging the song down under too much weight.
There’s a little Modest Mouse-style shouting in the mix that doesn’t quite work,
but it’s forgivable. Pop music has largely been taken over by the electronic and
the vocal, but moments like this are reminders that the electric guitar is the perfect
instrument for a pop hook.

Of course, it’s also the perfect instrument for reckless abandon and passion, and
it’s a little frustrating that Pitts doesn’t let it rip more often. We’re treated
to a bit on “Squeezing Blood”, but the guitar never completely explodes, sticking
to its allotted bars before the song returns to its pre-planned verse/chorus itinerary.
_Astro Coast_, as well as JP Pitts’ live performances (I saw him open for the Pixies,
and he broke some strings in the best possible way), prove he’s got the chops. There’s
a lot of self-styled indie rock guitar gods out there, but Pitts is one of the few
who really separates himself from the pack. I’m sure he could lay out on these songs
as well as anyone, so I have to think this was a statement of intent that Surfer
Blood wanted to make a great pop record without being read as another giant-guitar-
wielding noise pop band. I think they succeed, but I imagine listeners will be somewhat
disappointed. Now that he’s proven his point, hopefully Pitts brings more heroics
on future releases than he has on any of the studio material to date — something
that could really take Surfer Blood to the next level — rather than retreat further
into pop-based modesty.

Ultimately this is an album of promise, much like the debut, though the promise 
now takes on a different character. While some might see this as a regression (_Astro
Coast_d is the superior, if not as finely constructed, record), I see it as proof
that Surfer Blood have a few different tricks up their sleeves. If they can put 
them all together on the next record, this is a band that will transcend the overcrowded
musical spaces they currently reside and become one of the truly memorable acts 
of the day.

Rating: **9** of 10

_Devin William Daniels is a freelance writer and musician from Allentown, Pennsylvania.
He teaches English in South Korea and records music as the Negative Sound_