Florida’s Surfer Blood impressed with their debut, Surfer Blood. Despite their influences being obvious (Pixies, Pavement), they managed to carve out their own sound and had the strong tunes to back them up. On Pythons, vocalist John Paul Pitts indulges in some hoarse background yelps in the style of Frank Black, which does little to banish Pixies comparisons. Though that’s the least of the worries on this frustrating follow-up album.
This time around, Surfer Blood opt for shorter songs that follow similar paths, and with this comes less memorable melodies and lyrics with a bitter taste. The clear highlights (Demon Days, Weird Shapes) have already been released as singles, while a more muscular heft to the guitar carries much of the unremarkable work that follows them. Later on in the album, it’s a relief when a little variation comes into effect on the slower, calmer Needles And Pins and the Gene-meets-grunge oddity of closer Prom Song. Ultimately, you pine for something like the heady, hopeful Swim or the tropical punch of Take It Easy, but a song on par with the Astro Coast batch fails to surface.
Pitts’ lyrics range from fractured and erratic to defeated and self-hating. Allegations of domestic battery (a case that has since been dropped) aren’t the kind of thing that helps with promoting a new album and must have muddied the waters of the record’s creation, but – on a purely professional level – this follow-up just isn’t quite up to scratch.
BY CHRIS GIRDLER
Best Track: Demon Days
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: Pinkerton WEEZER, Trompe Le Monde THE PIXIES, Portamento THE DRUMS
In A Word: Disappointing
