At some point in a teenage boy's life, he will discover Weezer. And along with Weezer he'll discover their 1996 sophomore record, Pinkerton. That record will most likely accompany him for the rest of his life. It'll always be there for him after bouts of sadness and anger, rejection and depression. Pinkerton was the culmination of a teenage boys' feelings involving girls, drugs and life in general.
John Paul Pitts, the frontman of Florida's Surfer Blood, is obviously a Pinkerton disciple. Take the song "Twin Peaks" from Surfer Blood's great 2010 debut, Astro Coast. A song, where Pitts is finding himself sexually frustrated and has driven all the way to Syracuse to watch David Lynch movies with his girlfriend. His lyrics reflected those of River Cuomo's and so did the music. Astro Coast was predominantly Weezer influenced with some dashes of Vampire Weekend and Pavement thrown in.
Surfer Blood were the "next big thing" for a while, riding the hype of songs like "Swim" and "Floating Vibes". But then people began to forget about them. Until August 14th, when the story broke that on the night of March 31st, Pitts was arrested for domestic battery. A night at home turned violent between him and his girlfriend. But as more details come from the story, it seems as if it's not just Pitts who was at fault. They got into an argument, she wanted to call the police, he locked himself in the bathroom while threatening self harm, she bit and scratched his shoulders and chest, he stuck his fingers in her mouth. Only Pitts has shared his side of the story and has claimed to "never have hit anybody". The remainder of Surfer Blood cited Pitts' former relationship as "unhealthy" and "dangerous".
People aren't going to forget an incident like this. You can be caught with cocaine and guns in your house and still be viewed positively in the public eye. But when comes to anything involving abuse and women, it's something that you can't let go. Personally, I agree with the majority of the public on how disgusting and wrong abuse is. But when one person provokes the other, and only one is convicted, is that still considered domestic abuse? Or are both at fault?
The shadow of the Pitts case looms over Surfer Blood's fantastic second album, Pythons. The lyrics are self loathing, sad and discomforting. In interviews, Pitts seems tired of having to explain himself to people. But maybe he still has to explain things to himself, considering the lyrical content of Pythons.
Matching the dark, self lacerating lyrics is bright instrumentation, a trick that Passion Pit has used before. The songs sound like they can be played on any alternative radio in the late 90's to early 2000's. Or maybe something on the now defunct 101.9 RXP. Album highlight "Say Yes to Me" owes a lot more to Third Eye Blind then it does to Pavement.Some of this can probably be attributed to the album's producer Gil Norton (famous for producing Pixies' Doolittile). If you were to compare Pythons to any modern day indie rock record, it shares a lot with Wavves' Afraid of Heights. A record steeped in 90's alt-rock nostalgia and dark lyrics.
The band does steal a lot from the 90's. The verses of the opener, "Demon Dance", play exactly like those of Weezer's "The World has Turned and Left Me Here". And when Pitts screams on this album, he sounds like Black Francis.
The music is still unique in it's own right. The band likes to create a threshold with the beautiful and ugly, especially in Pitts' voice. Pitts is truly a great singer, able to hit falsettos and what not, but he's also a very adept screamer. Listen to the bridges of "Demon Dance" and "I Was Wrong". On "Slow Six" the guitars turn dark and ugly but then come down to a beautiful riff at the end of the song.
Pythons may not seem like a huge step from Astro Coast. Some may cite it as a step backwards. "Weird Shapes" sounds a hell of a lot like Tarot Classic (EP)'s "I'm Not Ready". But the changes are more subtle. Take the album's best song "Squeezing Blood". It has an insanely catchy chorus and in the last minute Pitts lets loose a scream, and the rest of the band do their respective backing vocals over it. Pitts said that "Squeezing Blood" is one of the only songs where everyone in the band sings at once. The lyrics may also reflect Pitts' new state of mind after his "incident". "Damning allegations have come to light / stapled to the background in black and white" sounds like a reaction of the news breaking and the unfair point of view the public has of him.
The dark tone of the lyrics is prevalent throughout the whole album. On "Blair Witch" Pitts is "reaching for sour grapes" and then proceeds to relate his lover's kisses to the taste of sour grapes. On "Say Yes to Me" his lover is "still true blue".
But then there's the album's closer "Prom Song". Surfer Blood have a thing for endings (just listen to Astro Coast's "Catholic Pagans"). I have a feeling that one day, I may actually shed tears to "Prom Song". Acoustic and electric guitars intertwine and Pitts stays stuck in time ("something else is out there / but I just can't be bothered / I don't want to know"). There may be some vague hints of Pitts moving on, "tonight we pull the plug / sweep you underneath the rug".
On the surface, Pythons seems like a sellout album, full of pop/alt-rock songs. An album sounding like Weezer and Blink-182. But like an actual python, the album slowly unfurls and wraps itself around you. After a while you can't escape it. Critics have kind of been slamming this record, but the fans are loving it. Similar to what happend upon Pinkerton's initial release. Pinkerton was Weezer's second album and Pythons is Surfer Blood's second album as well. It's quite tempting to call Pythons Surfer Blood's Pinkerton. But, one day, a teenage boy will find this. And he'll identify completely with it.
Surfer Blood - Pythons
8.5/10
Recommended Tracks - "Demon Dance", "Weird Shapes", "Squeezing Blood", "Say Yes to Me", "Slow Six", "Prom Song"
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