Nada Surf @ Cutting Room Studios

August 6, 2021August 6, 2021 by haterhigh

. : : January 7th, 2010 : : .

Nada Surf was riding an incredible career resurgence.

Often classified as a one hit wonder with the alternative radio hit Popular in the mid-90s, creative differences with their records label lead them to sit out their sophomore album, Proximity Effect, in North America.

Constant touring in Europe while waiting for their contacts to expire lead to a diamond sharp refinement, and the band was surprisingly wholly embraced by the indie-rock community for their follow up disc, Let Go, which was in turn followed up by excellent efforts The Weight is a Gift and Lucky.

The band has also had some crossover success with soundtrack covers of songs like If You Leave (OMD), Where is my Mind (Pixies), and All You Need is Love (Beatles) in the mid-to-late-aughts.

It was unusual that the band would follow up a trio of critically acclaimed indie rock albums with a covers album — especially one with a selection of songs considerably left of the dial.

Live Recordings

Nada Surf @ Horseshoe Tavern

June 28, 2020August 29, 2020 by haterhigh

. : : November 16th, 2015 : : .

I was afraid I was growing out of Nada Surf.

It was a weird feeling; their mid-career albums Let Go, The Weight Is A Gift, and (to a slightly lesser degree) Lucky were seminal albums for my twenties.

In fact, it was a chance, last minute decision to accompany my buddy to their show promoting Let Go that can be credited with my taping bug. I knew little more than the one hit wonder smash Popular from their debut album High/Low some seven-years earlier, but I was bored with nothing else to do, wanted some company and excitement, and invited myself along.

He had been taping shows he’d been going to for a while, but this was the first time I’d really paid attention to what he was doing and tried to help whenever I could. Without a dollar to my name I’d had to borrow $20 for the cover fee, and when all three bands performing that night (Sondre Lerche and The Long Winters opened) blew me away and I hadn’t any money left over to buy their albums, the recordings of the band’s sets received frequent, almost exclusive rotation in their stead.

Live Recordings