Lucky (Dig)

Nada Surf | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 5, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Barsuk
• ASIN: B0011HF60U
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,494 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Consistent: That’s the word that best describes the discography of New York’s Nada Surf, the jingle-jangle pop trio now in its second decade. With heavenly harmonies and swollen choruses, the band can always be counted on to deliver an album’s worth of hummable, single-worthy melodies. With lyrics that are pointed, yet restrained, the music--often acoustically driven but electrically charged--is the message. Songs like "See These Bones" (a Teenage Fanclub knock-off featuring Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard), the optimistic "I Like What You Say," the louder "Weightless," and especially "Ice on the Wing" are the brand of pop cut that takes merely a couple listens to feel like it's been in the listening arsenal for years. Even the more somber tracks are buoyed by tranquil instrumentation or, on the heartrending closer, "The Film Did Not Go ‘Round," by the backing vocals of the underrated Lianne Smith. --Scott Holter

Product Description

1. See These Bones 2. Whose Authority 3. Beautiful Beat 4. Here Goes Something 5. Weightless 6. Are You Lightning? 7. I Like What You Say 8. From Now On 9. Ice On The Wing 10. The Fox 11. The Film Did Not Go 'Round

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Beat, February 6, 2008

By 

Howlinw (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lucky (Bonus CD) (Dig) (Audio CD)

Sometimes an album comes along at the right time and crystallizes how I'm feeling at that very moment in ways that words can't describe. This is one of those albums. After a long tough day yesterday I decided to drive up the coast (I live in California) to my favorite indie record store (one of the few left in my area, sadly) to buy this, the new Nada Surf album. I hadn't read any reviews, had no preconceived notions, I just loved their last two records and had heard some funny stories about the making of this album from a friend who has a connection to this band. I ended up in a long discussion with the employees at the record store about the meaning of music in the context of life - which played directly into the next 45 minutes or so for the long drive home with this playing on my car stereo.

The song that hit me most was "Beautiful Beat," a testament to the ability of music to lift a person out of despair. Not that I was in despair, but the beauty of the instrumentation and the chugging rhythm behind the poignant lyrics struck a chord and put me in a peaceful, happy mood for the rest of the night. Other tracks that hit me immediately were the first one ("See These Bones") which seems in part to be about growing older in the music profession, and "I Like What You Say" which contains some choice phrases describing how being alone need not mean feeling lonely. But really the whole thing just blended together into this mass of pop perfection soup.

This one isn't what I'd call a "grower," at least in my opinion, because it had such an immediate impact. But the way it is layered and produced, there will be lots to discover over time as well. Like their other CDs since the absolutely brilliant "Let Go," I expect this will be with me and in regular rotation for a lifetime.

The beat is beautiful indeed.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More of the same from a great band, and with some slightly different flavors., February 11, 2008

By 

J. D. Lowrey (Santa Barbara, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lucky (Bonus CD) (Dig) (Audio CD)

I have been following Nada Surf's efforts for the better part of fifteen years, and it's always interesting to see what these guys will do next, as every new album seems to become, in many ways, my favorite of their works. Many people have remarked that this album feels "more upbeat" than the previous two, and I think I would have to agree with this to some extent, but the passion that fans of Nada Surf are used to hearing in their work is very much as prevalent on this album as ever before. I like the "brighter side of love" themes of the songs. If their album Let Go was a rainy-Sunday-afternoon type of album, then Lucky is more like a sunny-Saturday album. From a lyrical and production standpoint, it seems like the band had a little more fun with this album. As much as this is the same Nada Surf that fans have grown to love with plenty of familiar sounds, as on previous albums Lucky has its share of new sounds that old fans will appreciate just as much. In short, on the whole I think this album gives fans a more musically sophisticated Nada Surf, and with a variety of songs, I can see Lucky becoming my favorite of their albums. Also, I really enjoyed the bonus songs of this Limited Edition, particularly the acoustic versions of two songs from the albums.

For completeness of this review, my impressions of some of the individual songs are as follows...

"From Now On" and "Ice on the Wing" - Two very strong Nada Surf songs of the sound and momentum that have somewhat defined their past couple of albums. The strong rhythms and harmonies particularly remind me of efforts like "Happy Kid" and "No Quick Fix" off of Let Go, and "Concrete Bed" from The Weight is a Gift."

"I Like What You Say" and "Whose Authority" - As suggested by the previous two reviewers, I would call these songs, along with "See These Bones," as good candidates to immediately grab your attention on a first listen through of the album, as they did for me. I mention them together specifically because the limited edition album includes acoustic versions of these two songs that I have to admit that I like at least as much as the album versions.

"Here Goes Something" - A very interesting and unusual effort from Nada Surf, but I like it all the same. The production and harmonies here make me wonder whether Simon and Garfunkel was playing in the background while this was conceived.

"Beautiful Beat", "Weightless", "Are You Lightning", "The Fox", and "See These Bones" - I feel like these songs are the real strengths of this album, defining it as unique from the previous ones in its musical maturity and sophistication of production. It seems to me that on this album the band enjoyed a little more room to explore new production techniques and touch on some different sounds, not to mention there are some interesting guest appearances throughout these songs and the rest of the album.

This wouldn't be a proper review if I did not include a favorite song off the album. Like many others, "See These Bones" struck me immediately, as indicated above, but "Are You Lightning" has already become one of my favorite Nada Surf songs and certainly my favorite off this album. Caws' vocals are moving as usual, and the bass line, lead guitar (played by Phil Wandscher), and piano (Louie Lino) really fill out this ballad, which begins slow and rhythmically before rising to a beautiful and moving ending.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another terrific album from Nada Surf, February 5, 2008

By 

lovetractor "lovetractor" (Overland Park, KS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lucky (Bonus CD) (Dig) (Audio CD)

A little more upbeat than "Let Go" and "The Weight is a Gift", this is another terrific album. For reference I consider both of those albums to be fantastic recordings. My favorites: "See these bones", "The film did not go round", "Whose Authority". Harmonies shine on this one.