Concrete Playground

According to their MySpace page, Surfer Blood don’t surf. Neither do their mates, surfer-indie-rock band the Drums. And, come to think of it, neither did the Beach Boys, other than a few waves caught here and there by Dennis Wilson. So if there’s no surfing going on, what’s with the all the surf references, dudes?

Despite the aggressive oceanic cover art on their debut album, Astro Coast, this Florida band mostly steer clear of surfer-rock. Instead, their sound is inspired by ‘90s guitar-heavy indie-rock acts such as Pavement and Weezer and legendary pop-rock bands like the Who. Their debut single, ‘Swim’, is the type of stadium rock that gets you headbanging in the car and playing air guitar at the traffic lights, while the rest of the album is a catchy mix of indie-rock-pop with impressive guitar riffs, traces of punk and bursts of Vampire Weekend-ish Caribbean influences.

Apparently, when playing live, lead singer John Paul Pitts maintains a poker face throughout his entire set, even when thrashing out the band’s biggest anthems. Check it out for yourself when Surfer Blood play their Splendour Sideshow at Manning Bar on August 3. Just don’t expect to catch these guys checking out the local froth at Bondi the next day.