Writer gets Lucky with Nada Surf

By Nate Adams
Collegian Editor
February 13, 2008

Every time a new Nada Surf album comes out, I smile to myself.

I don’t really have a strong connection to the band. I would never call myself a die-hard fan. Still, I find myself cheering for these guys, a band I have almost no feeling toward.

See, back in the mid ’90s, Nada Surf had some mild popularity with a snide, tongue-in-cheek high school anti-anthem called “Popular.” It was a dark, bitter nerdy song that found a fanbase in the wake of Weezer’s nerd-rock success.

However, that was the last most people ever heard of them. Other songs couldn’t match the popularity of “Popular,” and by the time Nada Surf released its second album in the late ’90s, the landscape had shifted from nerd-rock to rap-metal. Nada Surf seemed doomed to be another ’90s one-hit wonder.

Except that it isn’t. Nada Surf has been able to reinvent itself as a midtempo indie pop mainstay. After getting dumped from its major label, the band resigned with indie powerhouse Barsuk records and has been rolling out pleasant alt-pop records like it’s 1995 since.

Lucky, the group’s latest record, is more of the same from a proven group of pop-rockers. Not grand and over-the-top like Weezer or The New Pornographers and not as soft as a coffee house crooner like Damien Rice, Lucky showcases Nada Surf’s ability to take the best of both ends and crank out pleasant tunes.

Normally, when someone describes a song as “midtempo,” it’s a polite way of calling a song boring, too slow to be interesting and too fast to be relaxing. However, with Nada Surf, it’s an accurate description of songs that are in no hurry and don’t need to dip into extremes to be winning. “Whose Authority” is one such song, a pop gem that plays like late period Old 97’s. Then there’s “Weightless,” a ’90s-sounding throwback that sounds like Our Lady Peace, except good.

I can see this record not appealing to some people. There are those who would argue that Nada Surf is stuck in a time warp, making songs for a market that no longer exists and clinging to a nearly empty genre of alternative rock. Those people are missing the point. Nada Surf makes music that doesn’t aim to change lives or shake foundations, it makes music that is pleasant to listen to, uncomplicated and perfect for any occasion as background soundtrack.

As long as there is a place in the world for midpaced pop-rock, and as long as there are people who remember what alt-rock was all about, there will be a place for an album as enjoyable as Lucky, and a place for a band as good as Nada Surf.

adamsn1@lasalle.edu