Posts Tagged ‘Surf City’

SURF CITY – ” We Knew It Was Going To Be Like This “

Posted: February 16, 2016 in MUSIC
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New Zealand band Surf City’s latest album “We Knew It Was Not Going To Be Like” This continues their love affair with psychedelic, reverb-swathed guitar pop, drawing from their Flying Nun forefathers The Clean and The Chills, as well as the fuzzed-up dream pop of The Jesus and Mary Chain and the loopy noise of Animal Collective. This time round the songwriting is stronger, the tunes are hookier and the sound is even more lush.

Named after a random snippet of overhead conversation in a crowded South Korean bar, We Knew It Was Not Going To Be Like This captures a haze of broken connections, isolation in the belly of the city. Recorded in snippets from different corners of the world – New Zealand, New York and South Korea – this is their second to be released via London label Fire Records, whose back catalogue boasts a host of classic dreamy acts such as Spacemen 3 and Bailterspace, as well as newer Antipodean bands such as Opossom, Blank Realm, Lower Plenty and Scott & Charlene’s Wedding.

Initially a four-piece formed by Davin Stoddard and Josh Kennedy with Josh’s brother Jamie on bass and Logan Collins on drums, Surf City released their debut EP in 2008. Arch Hill went on to put out their debut album Kudos domestically in 2010, before it was released worldwide by Fire Records in 2011.

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The album enjoyed plaudits from the likes of Stereogum, who praised their “impressively assured sound” and “perfect 2-minute pop storm.” Pitchfork noted that “their punky psychedelic pop is impressive” and admitted “Surf City’s pleasure for pleasure’s sake approach already has me pining for more.”

The band toured the US and NZ/Australia before taking a brief hiatus while Davin did a good amount of traveling. Josh became a father and left the band and Davin moved to New York, where he found a basement studio in Chinatown and began to work on the new album. He soon realized that the Big Apple wasn’t really for him (revealed in the song “NYC”). He returned to New Zealand and continued recording. He soon found himself in South Korea, teaching English, and far removed from everyone he knew. Filling so many of his late nights and early mornings with recording additional vocals and guitar parts in his apartment, the paper-thin walls would eventually cause the tenants who lived upstairs to move out as a result.

During this time Davin was listening to a lot of Bob Dylan, Scott Walker and Leonard Cohen, who all coloured the lyrical style that appears on the album. In many ways it’s a sad record, reflecting the loneliness and introspection that can occur whilst traveling and spending a vast amount of time alone on buses or trains or in airports with these legendary songwriters on repeat.

It’s also a very modern record with songs like “I Had the Starring Roll” talking about days spent on the internet with a tinfoil hat, talking about all the problems in the world but not being able to solve the dilemma about being with the one you want. “NYC” talks about the constant insecurities about being in the band and how we compare popularity by how many facebook likes we have.

We Knew It Was Not Going To Be Like This is in some ways a massive progression from Kudos, with richer context, deeper lyrics and a melancholy undertow. Musically, the band have developed their signature reverb-heavy fuzz rock in to something more gutsy but whilst retaining a keen ear for melody to create some unforgettable tunes.

 

SURF CITY – ” Hollow Veins “

Posted: June 5, 2015 in MUSIC
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“Sticky summer jams, fuzzy swirls and out and out dream pop blasts”

Auckland, New Zealand’s Surf City draws from the more languid and loose traditions of indie rock and Flying Nun’s melodic sensibilities, merging the two in songs that are both dense and immediate. Founded by Josh Kennedy and Davin Stoddard in 2004, the band was originally titled Kill Surf City, named in honor of a Jesus and Mary Chain b-side. Recruiting the rhythm section of Logan Collins and Jamie Kennedy, the band toured New Zealand and Australia, eventually scoring a spot opening for the then-recently reunited Dinosaur Jr. and signing with Arch Hill to release their first EP. Their debut LP, 2010’s Kudos, found critical acclaim from critics on both sides of the Atlantic, as did its followup, 2013’s We Knew It Was Going To Be Like This. Their newest album, this year’s Jekyll Island, finds Stoddard performing with a new lineup of the group, consisting of guitarist Jamie Kennedy and the rhythm section of Mike Ellis and Andy Frost. Despite the band’s new lineup, their long-running melodic and clean tones are still dominant on “Spec City”. Stoddard’s nasally vocals float alongside a “Sometimes Always”-esque jangle melody as the song rolls along, ebbing and flowing up and down a spaced-out, reverb-drenched wave of guitars. Not unlike its title’s similarity to its author’s, “Spec City” condenses the myriad indie rock-based strengths of Surf City and packages them as directly as the band ever has.

Surf City will support Jekyll Island with the band’s first-ever European tour next month, so be sure to keep up with the band’s adventures over at their Facebook.

SURF CITY – ” One Too Many Things “

Posted: June 5, 2015 in MUSIC
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Taken from the ‘Jekyll Island’, the forthcoming new album from New Zealand’s ‘Surf City’.

The following up to ‘We Knew It Was Not Going To Be Like This’, Surf City’s third album on Fire will be available on CD / LP / DD in March 2015.

SURF CITY – ” New York City “

Posted: April 7, 2015 in MUSIC
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Surf City – NYC – taken from the album “We Knew It Was Not Going To Be Like This” Out Now on Arch Hill Recordings and Fire Records, 

From Auckland, in  New Zealand’s Surf City draws from the more languid and loose traditions of indie rock and Flying Nun’s melodic sensibilities, merging the two in songs that are both dense and immediate. Founded by Josh Kennedy and Davin Stoddard in 2004, the band was originally titled Kill Surf City, named in honor of a Jesus and Mary Chain b-side. Recruiting the rhythm section of Logan Collins and Jamie Kennedy, the band toured New Zealand and Australia, eventually scoring a spot opening for the then-recently reunited Dinosaur Jr. and signing with Arch Hill to release their first EP. Their debut LP, 2010’s “Kudos”, found critical acclaim from critics on both sides of the Atlantic, as did its followup, 2013’s “We Knew It Was Going To Be Like This”. Their newest album, this year’s Jekyll Island, finds Stoddard performing with a new lineup of the group, consisting of guitarist Jamie Kennedy and the rhythm section of Mike Ellis and Andy Frost. Despite the band’s new lineup, their long-running melodic and clean tones are still dominant on “Spec City”. Stoddard’s nasally vocals float alongside a “Sometimes Always”-esque jangle melody as the song rolls along, ebbing and flowing up and down a spaced-out, reverb-drenched wave of guitars. Not unlike its title’s similarity to its author’s, “Spec City” condenses the myriad indie rock-based strengths of Surf City and packages them as directly as the band ever has.

Surf City will support Jekyll Island with the band’s first-ever European tour next month, so be sure to keep up with the band’s adventures over at their Facebook. Below, watch the band’s video for their 2013 tack “NYC”.

 

SURF CITY – ” NYC “

Posted: March 6, 2015 in MUSIC
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New Zealand band Surf City’s latest album We Knew It Was Not Going To Be Like This continues their love affair with psychedelic, reverb-swathed guitar pop, drawing from their Flying Nun forefathers The Clean and The Chills, as well as the fuzzed-up dream pop of The Jesus and Mary Chain and the loopy noise of Animal Collective. This time round the songwriting is stronger, the tunes are hookier and the sound is even more lush.
Named after a random snippet of overhead conversation in a crowded South Korean bar, We Knew It Was Not Going To Be Like This captures a haze of broken connections, isolation in the belly of the city. Recorded in snippets from different corners of the world – New Zealand, New York and South Korea – this is their second to be released via London label Fire Records, whose back catalogue boasts a host of classic dreamy acts such as Spacemen 3 and Bailterspace, as well as newer Antipodean bands such as Opossom, Blank Realm, Lower Plenty and Scott & Charlene’s Wedding.

Initially a four-piece formed by Davin Stoddard and Josh Kennedy with Josh’s brother Jamie on bass and Logan Collins on drums, Surf City released their debut EP in 2008. Arch Hill went on to put out their debut album Kudos domestically in 2010, before it was released worldwide by Fire Records in 2011.

SURF CITY – ” One Too Many Things “

Posted: March 6, 2015 in MUSIC
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New Zealand quartet Surf City have always sounded proudly aware of a well-honed strain of rock history, one that stretches from the Velvet Underground’s jangle through the homemade garage rock of their country’s most influential indie label, Flying Nun. They usually tweak that style enough to give their songs a unique stamp—especially through the low-key but expressive singing of frontman Davin Stoddard—and that holds true for most of their forthcoming album, Jekyll Island.
But there’s no harm in completely indulging in your influences sometimes. That’s what Surf City does on the retro-tinted but blood-filled “One Too Many Things”. It opens with an acoustic strum that sounds like the Feelies riffing on the VU’s “What Goes On”—or perhaps Real Estate riffing on both—before launching into a simple, irresistibly-catchy swing. The guitars pile into a kind of 3D rave-up, but there’s no forced energy here; Surf City wisely trust that three good chords can excite and hypnotize without any extraneous bells and whistles. There’s a wistfulness to the way Davin Stoddard doles out his world-weary lines, but rather than dragging the song down, they simply add to its classic, lived-in field. In other words, “One Too Many Things” sounds like it’s been around a while, and deservedly so.

SURF CITY – ” Its A Common Life “

Posted: March 6, 2015 in MUSIC
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The album enjoyed critical acclaim from a host of bloggers, who praised their “impressively assured sound” and “perfect 2-minute pop storm.” with their punky psychedelic pop is impressive  and admitted Surf City’s pleasure for pleasure’s sake approach already has me pining for more.”

The band toured the US and NZ/Australia before taking a brief hiatus while Davin Stoddard did a good amount of traveling. Josh became a father and left the band and Davin moved to New York, where he found a basement studio in Chinatown and began to work on the new album. He soon realized that the Big Apple wasn’t really for him (revealed in the song “NYC”). He returned to New Zealand and continued recording. He soon found himself in South Korea, teaching English, and far removed from everyone he knew. Filling so many of his late nights and early mornings with recording additional vocals and guitar parts in his apartment, the paper-thin walls would eventually cause the tenants who lived upstairs to move out as a result.

During this time Davin was listening to a lot of Bob Dylan, Scott Walker and Leonard Cohen, who all coloured the lyrical style that appears on the album. In many ways it’s a sad record, reflecting the loneliness and introspection that can occur whilst traveling and spending a vast amount of time alone on buses or trains or in airports with these legendary songwriters on repeat.

Musically, the band have developed their signature reverb-heavy fuzz rock in to something more gutsy but whilst retaining a keen ear for melody to create some unforgettable tunes.