Lucky review

Nada Surf: workaholics of alternative rock

Having a record deal with major doesn't necessarily mean that everything will be fine in the future. Of course, it may be a great help for a certain band but it cannot solve all the problems. Good bands survive at the expense of their talents and hard labor, but not just because they were lucky enough to be at the right place in the right time. Once upon a time American alternative band Nada Surf used their chance to sign a record deal for their first album with Elektra. What luck! Some bands have all of it! Nada Surf were immediately sent to the studio, after that they went touring across the US, after that across Europe. In a word, their dream came true. However, quite soon the band's management started putting pressure on the musicians requiring putting the material for the new album right. Conflict, misunderstanding, quarrel. Eventually, left without contract, money and support the musicians had to look for everyday jobs. Luckily, it didn't lead Nada Surf to disbandment. During the following years they release three albums, including their most respected and accomplished record Let Go as an independent band. They started everything from the very beginning and they didn't lose. And this year Nada Surf are here again with their new album Lucky.

Indie-pop for grownups

Nada Surf is a mature and self-confident group. Their style wasn't developing fast and the point they have finally achieved today may be called a proper indie-pop for grownups. The average age of Musicians is 40 and this somehow defines the audience they are oriented at, or, to be more precise, the audience, which is capable to estimate their art at its true worth. The band's huge advantage is that their new record is still based on fresh and pretty timely ideas at that. Nada Surf were always an active part of American alternative scene and they are not going to repudiate from their musical roots at all. The most of the songs on Lucky are firmly shaped, solid, mid-tempo alter-rock. The air of the album looks pretty positive, yet, now and then you can hear some somber notes in it. There always is a little bit of pensive sadness in the singer's voice, but it never turns into a trite scene of whining repentance.

Lucky is a strong, interesting and professionally made record

For the most part the arrangements of the songs sound quite buoyant and vigorous. At least, you can fearlessly say that Nada Surf enjoy doing rock indeed. And such tracks as Weightless, From Now On or Ice On The Wing eloquently demonstrate it. However, it is worth mentioning, that the melancholy and sadness, mentioned above, gets on the top quite often and sometimes becomes really obvious. The last tracks of the album look like a sort of psychedelic ballads and at times they sound really somber. One of the most interesting songs of the album is See This Bones. This is probably the best reflection of what Nada Surf are at the present moment of time. In general, Lucky is a strong, interesting and professionally made record. There are no pronounced hit songs but it doesn't lessen the strength of this album at all. Most likely, Lucky will have walk along the bottom lines of top 20 charts and than will settle down in the home collections of fans of qualitative music. But be sure, it will stay there for a long time and by no means as a passive record.