Surfer Blood – Tarot Classics (Kanine)
4/5
By: Em Bell
With songs as superb as ‘Swim’ and the overall strength of their debut LP, Surfer Blood impressively survived the initial pressures of being labelled ‘the next big thing’. The Tarot Classics EP is the West Palm Beach rockers’ first proper release since that album - Astro Coast - in 2010, and it’s fifteen easy minutes – I’ll make this article equally short and sweet.
This teaser of an EP begins with ‘I’m Not Ready’ a quietly confident, catchy, light hearted and sturdy opening. With bright guitar tones and crisp handclaps, it’s beach pop at its best, very much in the spirit of Astro Coast. ‘Miranda’ is considerably faster and takes a different direction to the sounds we’re accustomed to from these gents – there’s a darker texture, the bass pulses curiously and with a slightly mesmeric repetition of the word ‘Miranda’, Surfer Blood start to takes things just a bit deeper, and blossom in the most pleasing yet unexpected of ways.
Penultimate track ‘Voyager Reprise’ nods subtly towards The Strokes but in a way that’s slow, sturdy and just a bit more melancholy - there’s a real sense of longing to this accomplished ballad. Lastly, ‘Drinking Problem’ comes in with a shimmering synth melody, a lonely keyboard and haunting bass.
These are four completely different tracks showing not only that Surfer Blood have done a bit of growing up, but there’s a lot more to come. Tarot Classics is a quarter of an hour of fine indie pop which shows you that Florida might be a little colder and bigger than you thought.
Surfer Blood - I'm Not Ready by Chris Topher Dawe
Artists in this article: Surfer Blood
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