![]() ![]() Nada Surf end with "I Remembered What I Was Going to Say" by The Silly Pillows, an instrumental that just so happens to be by Caws’ sister’s band. Somber songs are still present, most notably the plaintive closer 'The Film Did Not Go Round,' but most of the album is dominated by steady, mid-tempo pop/rock. Now it’s time to sing in Spanish while covering "Evolución" by Spanish pop-rock band Mercromina. Appropriately enough, Lucky sounds like a celebration of the bands good fortune. It is similar to the original and is probably better as well. Perhaps it was meant as a launching pad for the next up-beat track, The Soft Pack’s ( QRO album review ) "Bright Side". Nada Surf stretch this one out nearly one minute longer than the original and though it rocks harder, it feels a bit uninspired. They cover French chanteuse Coralie Clément’s "Bye Bye Beauté" (sung in French) then head into "Question" by British prog/pop/art/rock band The Moody Blues. They make a song Spoon wrote about getting screwed in a record deal sound pretty and maybe even sweet (until you listen closely to the lyrics).Īt this point in the album, the band goes a bit schizophrenic. On "The Agony of Laffitte", Nada Surf cover one of their contemporaries, Spoon ( QRO live review ). It’s a nice updated version of the 1990 original. Next, they take on Kate Bush’s only chart-topper on any U.S. Dwight Twilley’s "You Were So Warm" is a virtual note for note rendering of a severely underrated artist. With "Janine" (Arthur Russell), Nada Surf cut the original version in half and end the song with the line "You were so warm" which lead right into a cover of a song with the same name. "Love Goes On" from The Go-Betweens is lovingly covered and it’s hard to wonder if this is a tribute to the late Grant McLennan who passed away unexpectedly in 2006. Matthew Caws adds a nice touch in his delivery especially on the line "Oh my little girl" and there is no reason why this shouldn’t be a big song for summer 2010. Their take on Depeche Mode’s universal hit "Enjoy the Silence" is sunny and a blast. Kicking off with "Electrocution" from semi-obscure artist Bill Fox, they add more power to this infectious pop song. So even when Lucky tries to turn down the glow, it still radiates with the oomph of a solid power pop release, making Nada Surf's fifth album a fine finale for a weekend well-spent.Starting with the title of their covers album (a palindrome), you know Nada Surf’s intentions with this release are to have fun. "What you are now, we were once - and just like we are, you'll be dust." As the song ends, three different melodies weave themselves together, all of them instantly memorable and worthy of being a chorus in their own right. "Look alive, see these bones," the lyrics advise. Nada Surf has seen too much over the past 15 years not to be cautious, and the leadoff track "See These Bones" warns younger bands to be similarly careful with their careers. But Lucky never gets lost in that sort of happiness. "Beautiful beat, get me out of this mess beautiful beat, lift me up from distress," sings Matthew Caws, sounding restless and happy at the same time, as if he knows his anxiety can be quelled at any moment by the sounds of his brightest record to date. There are some particularly luminous moments here, including the back-to-back punch of "Whose Authority" and "Beautiful Beat," where the songs immediately unleash their hooks and sustain that energy for minutes. Nada Surf spent the first half of the 2000s making subdued rainy day records, which makes Lucky seem downright sunny (if not supernova bright) in comparison. Somber songs are still present, most notably the plaintive closer "The Film Did Not Go 'Round," but most of the album is dominated by steady, mid-tempo pop/rock. History edit 1990s edit Nada Surf was formed in 1992 by Matthew Caws and Daniel Lorca. Appropriately enough, Lucky sounds like a celebration of the band's good fortune. Nada Surf is a New York City -based American alternative rock band formed in the 1990s, consisting of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums), Doug Gillard (guitar, backing vocals), and Daniel Lorca (bass, backing vocals). ![]() And they've been lucky, too - lucky in that their audience has remained, their (once rocky) label situation has steadied, and their chops have improved. They've grown more emotive over the years, having replaced the sarcasm of 1996's "Popular" with a grown-up focus on pop songcraft and mellow instrumentation. If Fountains of Wayne create snarky power pop songs for Friday evenings, then Nada Surf is the band for Sunday afternoons.
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