Nada Surf
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Biogaphy:
Nada Surf is an American band from New York playing rock-punk-pop music. The three band-members are Daniel Lorca on bass, Matthew Caws playing the guitar and Ira Elliot, the drummer.
Background:
Nada Surf was formed in 1994. At that time Nada surf consisted of 4 members. This didn’t really work out very well because the singer quit, and soon thereafter drummer left Nada surf too. Matthew Caws and Daniel Lorca were now alone in the band. They desperately needed a drummer. In 1995 Matthew and Daniel convinced Ira Elliott – a friend since 1984 – to join the band. Matthew and Daniel started doing the vocals instead of finding a new singer. The band as we know it today was complete. Daniel and Matthew, long-time friends since grade school, got the idea of starting a band early. In their teens they both played together in the band “The cost of Living”.
Years later they played together again in another band. After that Daniel went to Europe, where after some time settled in Spain, where he played the band “Angelo la quais”. Ira played in the band “the Fuzztones” for many years. In 1995 they worked on some new material – as well as some old before the split-up – and the result was a demo tape, called TAFKANS. They played at various clubs in New York, where they lived.
The breakthrough
One day they met Ric Ocasek, a famous producer, at a club in NY. They slipped him a demo-tape, and to their surprise, they were contacted by Ric a couple of days later. He was interested in their material, and they started discussing their future. An emplyee at Elektra Records had heard them as well and with his own label, “No.6 Records” Nada Surf released their first album, “Karmic”(1996). The 5 songs on the album didn’t sell all that good (?), despite the quality of the songs. The discussions with Ric also went good, and after signing a contract with “Elektra”, they produced the “High/Low” album with Ric Ocasek as producer that same year.
The controversy
“High/Low” became a major breakthrough, mostly because of their hit “Popular” reaching high on the charts. After producing the “Popular” video, they reached out all over the world through MTV (among other music TV channels). The high-school at which NAda Surf had recorded their video later on sued them and demanded that they withdrew the video because of a scene in a shower room where two footballers smiled at each other. The principal of the school saw this to be homosexual, and didn’t want the school to get a bad reputation.
After the breakthrough
After their breakthrough the obvious thing for the surfers was to start touring, which they did. They toured in both the USA and most of Europe. After that there was a long time of silence from the three guys. Rumours about their new album spread, and at first early ’98 was subject to release of their new album. This was however not correct, “The proximity effect” was released in Europe mid September and has yet to come out in North America.
Discography:
The Plan/Telescope 7” (1994)
North 6th Street (Noneties) (1995)
Karmic EP (No. 6) (1996)
High/Low (Elektra) (1996)
Proximity Effect (MarDev) (1998)
Let Go (Labels/Heavenly/Barsuk) (2002)
The Weight Is A Gift (Barsuk/Cityslang) (2005)
Other recordings:
“Sick of You” sur We Will Fall: The Iggy Pop Tribute (Royalty Records) (1997)
“Where Is My Mind” sur Where Is My Mind?, a tribute to the Pixies (Glue Factory Records) (1999)
“Blue Moon” sur A Tribute To Big Star (LunaSea Records) (2001)
“Blizzard of ‘77″ sur This Is Next Year: A Brooklyn Compilation (Arena Rock Recording Company) (2001)
Discography:Danko Jones 1998My Love Is Bold 1999I’m Alive And On Fire 20o1Born A Lion 2002We Sweat Blood 2003Sleep Is The Enemy 2006
Guitarist/singer/songwriter Bob Mould was initially a member of Hüsker Dü, one of the most influential American bands of the ’80s. Hüsker Dü was a post-hardcore punk band that helped define the sound and ideals of alternative rock. After Hüsker Dü broke up, Mould signed a solo contract with Virgin Records in 1988. The following year, he released his first solo album, Workbook, which represented a major shift in sonic direction. .Frustrated with the business operations of major record labels, Mould left Virgin after the release of Black Sheets of Rain; they would later release a compilation of the two albums, Poison Years. Mould then formed an independent record company, SOL (Singles Only Label), which released 45s from new, developing bands as well as cult bands. In 1992, he formed a new trio, Sugar, with bassist David Barbe and drummer Malcolm Travis; the band signed with Rykodisc in the U.S., Creation in the U.K. Sugar’s first album, Copper Blue, was released in the fall of 1992 to enthusiastic reviews and became Mould’s most successful project to date.Mould wrote the material for the second Sugar album during 1993. The band began recording in the spring of 1994, but the sessions ground to a halt and the tapes were erased. Mould decided to give the album one more try, and it was recorded quickly late that spring. The album, File Under: Easy Listening, appeared in the fall of 1994. Although it received good reviews and was moderately successful commercially, it didn’t match the performance of Copper Blue. In the spring of 1995, it was announced that Sugar was on hiatus. By the fall, Mould had broken up the band and begun to work on a third album entirely by himself. Mould played all of the instruments on his self-titled third album, which was released in the spring of 1996. The Last Dog and Pony Show followed in 1998.In 2002, after a long period of musical inactivity, Mould returned with the electronics-heavy Modulator, followed by the more conventional Body of Song in 2005. After a dance project with Richard Morel (Blowoff Project), Mould returned to his guitar roots and paired up with Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty to record District Line in 2008.
Discography:
Biography:Sweet as apple-pie pop, from Stockholm high school girls, led by a pounding Hammond organ. The five demo-tracks emulate some of the true twee pop greats such as Bis and Girlfrendo.”Those Dancing Days”, the northern soul inspired song which the band are named after, could easily fit onto the soundtrack of Austin Powers. “Hitten”, possibly the band’s signature tune is a fizzy pop number which will have you singing along instantly.If this band are not the next big thing I am willing to bet my life savings that one of the members of this group will feature on a Top Twenty selling Swedish album within the next five years.They are certainly worth investigating. I can hear a lot of influences in these four tracks ranging from girl bands to a bit of ska, from The Dolly Mixtures to The Pipettes. Hitten is far and away their best song based on those available and it is certainly one of the best songs, but then tasty Boy is cute and Disc-Hoe a lovely play on things.
Discography:Singles:Those Dancing Days 2008Mallory Towers 2008
