Nada Surf founders Matthew Caws (vocals, guitar) and Daniel Lorca (bass) were longtime school friends, having studied together at the Lycée Français de New York in Upper Manhattan. They signed to Elektra in 1995 and cut their debut LP, High/Low. “Popular” became a surprise radio hit the following summer, and Nada Surf found themselves lumped into the “nerd rock revival” camp alongside Superdrag, Cake, and Weezer. This newfound popularity allowed Nada Surf to release several tracks from their European demo as part of the Karmic EP, but it also proved to be a double-edged sword. When the band returned in 1998 with The Proximity Effect, Elektra balked, and permanently dropped the band and shelved the record; it would take Nada Surf a full two years to buy back the rights to their work.
The Proximity Effect finally entered U.S. record stores in 2000, when Caws issued it on his own MarDev label, and Nada Surf traveled the country to promote its release. The bandmates then entered the studio to independently record a third album, Let Go. Barsuk signed the group and released the album in 2002. In 2005, The Weight Is a Gift furthered the band’s critical acclaim. Nada Surf then returned in 2008 with Lucky, which featured musical contributions from Ben Gibbard. In 2012, Nada Surf celebrated their 20th anniversary with The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy, the band’s seventh studio album. In 2014, the group released B-Sides, a digital collection of rare and unreleased material.
On December 2nd 2015, the band announced their next new album, You Know Who You Are will be released March 4, 2016. They got out on a world tour in support of said album starting in Stockholm on March 31st. Don’t worry though, they will stop by Austin.
Nada Surf
Friday, May 27th
Doors: 8pm
All ages
Leave a Comment