Full Review: Nada Surf – Lucky
Nada surf is a band that has been around for along time so chances are, like me, you’ve at least heard of them. Truth be told this is the first time I’ve actually I listened to a whole album and it makes me wish I had earlier. The album has a sound that is so contemporary to what is popular now that it should do very well although it seems obvious the band wasn’t writing for the popularity and fame.
Lucky starts with the epic “See These Bones”. Powerful and passionate the song is a bit darker than the overall feel that the overall album carries. Although Ben Gibbard makes an appearance on the song its likely that the fact that the song sounds like it could be a Death Cab For Cutie song is merely a coincidence.
Slightly unique instrumentation makes “Here Goes Something” stick out in your mind as the chorus implements what sounds like the delicate sounds of the high register on a piano. The song is short and sweet in it’s 2 minutes of glory but knows when to end and make way for “Weightless”.
On track 5, the guitar starts and then is joined by perfectly blended vocals that get a line or two in before the drums kick in and becomes magnificent. The song is the equivalent of standing in an open landscape looking a sunset as the colored sky fills the horizon. The melody and rhythm the song provides will quickly lull you into a daydream state making it had to focus on the lyrics which contribute to the dream like feel. “Weightless” excels on every level imaginable.
“The Film Did Not Go Round” closes out the album on a somber, and sorrowful note. A song that deals with the death of a loved one. Some may find it beautiful, others may feel an uneasy end in the pit of their stomach if the song hits close to home. To say this album took me by surprise and blew me away would be accurate if not an understatement. So early in the year and already a guaranteed best of the year.
Track Listing
1. See These Bones
2. Whose Authority
3. Beautiful Beat
4. Here Goes Something
5. Weightless
6. Are You Lightning?
7. I Like What You Say
8. From Now On
9. Ice on the Wing
10. The Fox
11. The Film Did Not Go ‘Round
