A melodic / melancholic fierce panda one sheet

The Act: SURFER BLOOD

The Release: 'ISLAND'

The Formats: DIGITAL SINGLE

The Label: FIERCE PANDA

The Release Date: JUNE 29TH 2015

The Truth: Surfer Blood are from West Palm Beach, Florida. They consist of John Paul Pitts (vocals / guitar), Thomas Fekete (guitar / vocals), Kevin Williams (bass / vocals) and Tyler Schwarz (drums), although guitarist Thomas has been forced to take a backseat of late while he battles cancer.

'Island' is the second single to be taken from the quartet's third album, '1000 Palms', which appeared on fierce panda May 11th. Happily there is still joy to be had as the video for 'Island' sees Surfer Blood, sans a recovering Thomas, natch, positively larking about on a beach at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK3sw4n-nZ0

Not only that but the Surfer Blood boys – who are currently on an extensive US summer tour - have announced their first European dates since 2013, and those dates look like this:

SEP 19 ANTWERP Ttix
SEP 20 TILBURG Incubate Festival
SEP 21 COLOGNE Blue Shell
SEP 22 PARIS Espace B
SEP 24 BIRMINGHAM Hare & Hounds
SEP 25 GLASGOW Broadcast
SEP 27 NEWCASTLE The Cluny
SEP 28 NORWICH Arts Centre
SEP 30 LONDON TUFNELL PARK Dome
OCT 01 MANCHESTER Deaf Institute
OCT 02 LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
OCT 03 SOUTHAMPTON Joiners Arms
OCT 04 BRISTOL Thekla
OCT 05 BRIGHTON The Hope & Ruin

And that is but the tip of the Surfer Blood iceberg. You may recall that our indie troopers were quite the breakout band of 2009, when their ‘Astro Coast’ debut (on Kanine) was praised by Pitchfork for its “lo-fl clangor, glo-fi harmonies, punchy retro-garage concision and never-out-of-style classic rock songcraft." Touring with Pixies and playing every cool festival on the known planet only seemed to solidify Surfer Blood’s place in the hipster heartland.

Fate – as tends to be the case – had different ideas, however. A worldwide record deal with Warners promised much, not least recording sessions with Gil Norton for ‘Astro Coast’ follow-up ‘Pythons’, but Surfer Blood’s second album syndrome turned out to be a bruising experience on and off stage, in many ways.

Little wonder then that by the close of 2013 the quartet were beyond ready to return to a more DIY process, seeking refuge in the original Surfer Bloody-minded mentality to make '1000 Palms'. And little wonder that amidst the new lo-fi clangor and glo-fi harmonies permeating ‘Island’ we should find John Paul Potts looking around, taking stock and deciding "If I had known what I found out today / I would've washed my hands and walked away…”

"Couched in the language of Beach-Boy guitar riffs and the pot-smoking indolence of Best Coast, '1000 Palms' uses a bittersweet sunshine-infused sense of longing as the base to blend a multitude of shades of nostalgic yearning."
- The Line Of Best Fit

"Freed from the constraints of a major label the band take advantage of their newfound autonomy to unpack some of the psychic trauma they've endured over the past few years...'1000 Palms' sounds like emotional throat-clearing, the transitional sound of a band finding their bearings, resetting their dials and getting back on their feet."
- Pitchfork

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