The two years between the
Tarot Classics EP and
Pythons weren't easy for
Surfer Blood. In 2012, singer/guitarist
John Paul Pitts was arrested for domestic battery; ultimately, charges were not filed and the case was dropped. When listening to the band's second album, however, it's hard to imagine that there were ever any clouds on their horizon: these are some of
Surfer Blood's most lighthearted songs yet, and some of their slickest, too. For their major-label debut, they worked with producer
Gil Norton, who has always excelled at bringing out the pop part of punk-pop bands ranging from
the Pixies and
Foo Fighters to
Jimmy Eat World. There are definitely ties to those groups' work on
Pythons, and as on
Tarot Classics,
Pitts and crew complement their bouncy melodies with driving rhythms and tasteful bursts of distortion. All of these are on display on the single "Weird Shapes," which tempers jaunty pianos with distant screaming reminiscent of
the Pixies and especially
Weezer, whose vulnerable to explosive dynamic shifts provide the template for songs like "I Was Wrong." At times,
Surfer Blood are even more hooky and melodic than their influences on
Pythons, with the heft of their earlier work replaced by catchy conciseness. Unlike
Astro Coast, where the distortion and reverb that cloaked its songs added drama, here the standout tracks are often the lightest. There's an almost
Morrissey (or
Smoking Popes)-like croon to
Pitts' vocals on the bittersweet "Say Yes to Me," and "Blair Witch" has one of the album's best balances of crashing guitars and toothsome melody.
Surfer Blood also use their newfound polish to expand their sound, as on the Afro-pop-tinged "Squeezing Blood" and "Slow Six," a fittingly named waltz that manages to be somewhat heavy and hypnotic at the same time. The more the band embraces
Pythons' slickness, the better it sounds; it's a pleasant, ingratiating set of songs that don't aim to be anything more than that. ~ Heather Phares