Surfer Blood at Big Orbit’s Soundlab, Buffalo NY, 4-13-10

If you would have looked at my turntable any time from January of this year until about March you probably would have seen Surfer Blood’s Astro Coast spinning under its needle. The album is infectious, melodic, soaked in reverb and power cords and undoubtedly influenced by the likes of Pavement and Built to Spill. Singer John Paul Pitts presents an Issac Brock like howl and the occasional “Oh Oh Oh!” yelp, further compounding the band’s classic “indie” vibe. The guitars bounce much in the way of Dinosaur jr., creating a perfect platform for Pitt’s springy, some times James Mercer esque vocals. Despite all the references and obvious influences, Surfer Blood seems to be its own species. The fact that so many influences can be combined in a way that never sounds redundant or chaotic is truly remarkable. The band first made waves (pun intended) with their single “Swim” in 2009 and after waiting painfully long for their debut, Astro Coast proved to be worth the wait. That being said, I was thrilled to hear that Surfer Blood would be playing one of my favorite venues in Buffalo. Big Orbit’s is small and sparse but the vibe is perfect. It kind of reminds me of hanging out in a friend’s basement. The members of Surfer Blood added to the basement vibe by watching the opening act (Turbo Fruits) alongside the crowd. Something about seeing band members interact so readily with fans gives me the warm and fuzzies. Once Surfer Blood took the stage, I made the mental note that I’m sure just about everyone who sees this band live will make. The band is young. I’m not too sure how young exactly but let’s just say if I were a bartender I would be seriously suspicious of their ID’s. Their age however, had no effect on their stage presence or sound. All 5 members seemed comfortable and at ease. The band played pretty much everything off of their debut along with a Nirvana cover and a pretty incredible encore. After finishing off the first part of their set with “Catholic Pagans”, the band returned for the first of two encores. The encores contained “Neighbors Riffs”, a new song and an incredible jam in which all the members of both Surfer Blood and Turbo Fruits were on the stage playing at once. As if that wasn’t enough insanity, Surfer Blood’s tour manager joined Pitts and drummer Tyler Schwarz in an impromptu cover of Best Coast’s “When I’m With You.” There was also the suggestion of Weezer karaoke and LOST references, perfect.