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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Beat, February 6, 2008
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.
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8 of 8 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
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.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a beautiful album, May 15, 2008
This album is very impressive. As far as I am concerned, it's a return to form after the disappointing and bloated "The Weight Is A Gift".
The opening trio of songs "See These Bones", "Whose Authority" and "Beautiful Beat" are outstanding. There seems to be a Pernice Brothers chamber pop influence going on here. In fact these songs very much remind me of Pernice Brother stuff. "See These Bones" features Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard on backing vocals. "Whose Authority" is fantastic. It's a power pop landmark song like Ballad Of El Goodo by Big Star or Sparkys Dream by Teenage Fanclub. It's absolutely wonderful. "Beautiful Beat" doesn't disappoint either. I like the addition of orchestra and piano on it. Another thing that I like about this whole album is the addition of extra vocalists. I have the limited edition download and the song "I Wanna Take You Home" features Juliana Hatfield on backing vocals and it sounds wonderful. Matthew Caws' voice is complemented nicely by her voice. "Here Goes Something" is a nice change too. It's all acoustic guitars and has a country influence. "Weightless" is back to the indie stuff and is not quite as good as the rest. "I Like What You Say" is pleasant. "From Now On" is another high point. The multi layered voices sound great. On the whole this is a very pleasant album and would easily be a high point of the Nada Surf catalogue.
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