Surfer Blood will be performing at Hotel Vegas Tuesday, August 24 with doors opening at 8 pm to the public. This show is 21+ with tickets being sold for $15.
Surfer Blood is an American indie rock band from West Palm Beach, Florida consisting of members John Paul Pitts (lead vocals/guitars), Tyler Schwarz (drums), Mike McCleary (guitars/backing vocals), and Lindsey Mills (bass/backing vocals). The band started with Pitts and Schwarz playing music together in Orlando, Florida under the name Jabroni Sandwich. The two moved back to their hometown in West Palm Beach and started playing with guitarist Luke Bovat and bassist Freddy Shwenk in 2008 under the name TV Club where they developed most of the material that would end up on Surfer Blood’s debut album, Astro Coast. TV Club lasted for about a year until Bovat was kicked out and Schwenk left the band. Pitt and Schwarz met Thomas Fekete at an ultra music festival after-party in Miami and the group was renamed Surfer Blood, a name that Schwenk randomly came up with during a conversation with Pitts about his surfer backpack from high school.
They began recording and touring almost immediately, laying down tracks in Pitts’ apartment and embarking on four tours in their first five months together. The buzz around the band built quickly as they hit the road with Art Brut and Japandroids while preparing their debut album. Released in early 2010 by Brooklyn indie Kanine, Astro Coast was warmly received by critics and introduced Surfer Blood to a greater audience, reaching the Billboard Top 200. Later that year, the band signed to Warner Bros, but released the Tarot Classics EP on Kanine in 2011.
Prior to the EP’s release, Surfer Blood were pegged to be the opening act for Pixies’ 2011 tour. Working with former Pixies producer Gil Norton, they delivered their more polished major-label debut, Pythons, in June of 2013. After debuting the new single “Dorian” in February 2015, the band announced that guitarist Fekete was suffering from sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, and was leaving the band. After signing to Joyful Noise Records, they delivered their third LP, 1000 Palms, in May of that year. Following the late-2015 departure of longtime bassist Williams — who was replaced by old high school friend Lindsey Mills — in May of 2016, Surfer Blood reported that former guitarist Fekete had succumbed to cancer. The band’s ambitious 2017 album, Snowdonia, was the first to feature Mills and guitarist Mike McCleary. An EP, Hourly Haunts, arrived in 2019, followed by a studio LP, Carefree Theatre, in 2020.
Their songs feature sprightly interplay between chiming and gritty guitars, upbeat melodies reinforced by clean harmonies, and a playfully intelligent point of view. The band made a strong debut with 2010’s Astro Coast, followed by their first major-label release, 2013’s Pythons. After returning to the indie ranks, they reaffirmed themselves on 2020’s Carefree Theatre.
Surfer Blood w Worn-Tin
Tuesday, August 24
Doors: 8 pm
21+
Tickets: $15
Hotel Vegas
1502 East 6th Street
Austin, TX 78702
More information here
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