Album Preview: Nada Surf, Lucky

Label: City Slang

With their lyrical references to wolfpacks and convoys, Sopwith Camels and doodlebugs, Nada Surf can seem like British Sea Power’s nerdier cousins.

But there’s a combination of emotional immediacy and musical sophistication in tracks such as “Whose Authority” and “The Film Did Not Go Round” that more strongly bring to mind REM or Fleetwood Mac.

Stylistically, they utilise a diverse range of approaches, from the skiffle of “Here Goes Something” to the oompah-band climax of “Ice On TheWing”.

There’s a sizeable complement of lyrical guile and wisdom on display, too, not least the recognition of human fallibility in “Weightless”: “Behind every desire is another one/Waiting to be liberated/When the first one is sated”.

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