“If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it”, so the saying goes. Or, applied here, ‘if isn’t broke, please don’t put anything on it other than a fast-paced B minor chord and some summery lyrics’. Like fellow power-pop patrons Teenage Fanclub and Matthew Sweet, transitions, or genre-shifting, have no place with Nada Surf. Their seventh studio album packs a mighty punch, but the sweet hook is very familiar.
Opener ‘Clear Eye Clouded Mind’ begins with a heavy gush of fuzzy guitar; perhaps the most raging track the trio have done since the ‘Let Go’ days. It is indeed a fine start. The harmony-rich yearning of ‘Waiting for Something’ delivers their typical brand of wistfulness and up-tempo beats. For a Nada Surf fan, it ticks all the right boxes.
Matthew Caws’ angelic voice is as fine and clear as ever, particularly on the soaring ‘No Snow on the Mountain’, the drums of Ira Elliot light a fire under the LP and the lyrics are top notch, and do loosely correspond to the album’s ponderous title.
Alas, the album doesn’t continue their purple patch that began with ‘Let Go’ and (it seems) ended with 2008’s majestic ‘Lucky’, but Nada Surf will never make a bad album. With the rocky songs more rocky, the acoustic songs more mellow, Nada Surf are simply three craftsmen, and with each album, they’re honing it better and better. There’s just the niggling feeling that it’s too Nada Surf. Even a different chord pattern would be welcome. But come on, it’s still not broke.
A decent effort.
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