{"id":5092,"date":"2012-02-29T02:06:24","date_gmt":"2012-02-29T09:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=5092"},"modified":"2012-02-29T02:07:41","modified_gmt":"2012-02-29T09:07:41","slug":"nada-surf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2012\/02\/nada-surf\/","title":{"rendered":"NADA SURF"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"NADA SURF<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Revisiting the past, a rock trio discovers an unexpected need for speed \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

In early 2010, Nada Surf treated hometown fans in New York City to full performances of what were then its three most recent albums. The material in question spanned 2002 to 2008\u2014years in which the trio enjoyed a remarkable second act, cultivating a newfound cult success that eclipsed their lone mainstream pop hit, 1996\u2019s \u201cPopular.\u201d Taking stock of the Nada Surf catalog, singer, guitarist and songwriter Matthew Caws realized how much he and his bandmates tended to go from \u201czippy live band\u201d onstage to \u201cslightly restrained\u201d pop outfit in the studio. \u201cIt saved us from going further down roads we didn\u2019t need to go down,\u201d Caws says. \u201cYou need a blend of a little underconfidence and overconfidence, the accelerator and the brakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The following year, as Caws began writing Nada Surf\u2019s seventh studio album, The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy<\/em>, he sought to capture the spirit of the Brooklyn rehearsal room where the trio\u2014also including bassist Daniel Lorca and drummer Ira Elliot\u2014had always played faster and less self-consciously. When the time came to record, they opted to stay put rather than travel to a studio in another city. \u201cWhen you go to Seattle or somewhere, you have to pack up the gear and take a day off on the other end to readjust,\u201d Caws says. \u201cBefore you know it, the feeling is gone. In this case, we wanted to record it right in the practice space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, not entirely\u2014basic tracks were cut over five days in a proper studio facility just three blocks away, so close the members were literally able to roll their amps over without losing any momentum. The speedy sessions suited the urgent and outward-looking material, which covers topics ranging from environmental degradation and man\u2019s insignificance in the universe to finding optimism amid chaos. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to get to the end of your life and realize you\u2019ve just been ruminating about your\u00a0own place,\u201d Caws says.<\/p>\n

Despite all the big-picture thinking, one of the disc\u2019s most affecting moments comes on \u201cTeenage Dreams,\u201d as Caws finds himself \u201cmoved to a tear\u201d by break-dancing teens on the subway. \u201cSometimes a burst of creative energy, like seeing someone burn white hot for a second, can remind you what we\u2019re here for,\u201d he says. \u201cAside from surviving and helping others survive, the other thing we\u2019re here for is living a little electric, whenever\u00a0we have the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013Kenneth Partridge<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NADA SURF Revisiting the past, a rock trio discovers an unexpected need for speed \u00a0 In early 2010, Nada Surf treated hometown fans in New York City to full performances of what were then its three most recent albums. The material in question spanned 2002 to 2008\u2014years in which the trio enjoyed a remarkable second […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[3032,3160,10156],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5092"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5092"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5095,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5092\/revisions\/5095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}