★★★★★
www.warnerbrosrecords.com
BY MISCHA PEARLMAN
There's a moment towards the end of "I Was Wrong", the fourth track of Surfer Blood's second album, when singer John Paul Pitts viciously barks out the song's title, transforming it from a gently jangling ditty into a visceral, primal outburst of rage and regret. It's doesn't last for long--Pitts shouts that phrase six times over 15 or so seconds--but the effect resonates for much longer...
- blurtonline.com
2013-07-23
★★★★★
Florida's Surfer Blood impressed with their debut, Surfer Blood. Despite their influences being obvious (Pixies, Pavement), they managed to carve out their own sound and had the strong tunes to back them up. On Pythons, vocalist John Paul Pitts indulges in some hoarse background yelps in the style of Frank Black, which does little to banish Pixies comparisons. Though that's the least of the worries on this frustrating follow-up album...
- www.beat.com.au
2013-07-12
★★★★★
It's hard to get out of the shadow of a brilliant debut album. It's even harder to escape the creeping umbra of a domestic violence arrest. Surfer Blood and lead singer John Paul Pitts (whose then-girlfriend ended up dropping the charges) have got a huge black cloud hanging over Pythons that threatens to distract from the achievement of the music...
- www.ink19.com
2013-07-06
★★★★★
It's not easy imitating Pavement-era college rock. Plenty of bands - take, say, Yuck or Underground Railroad - have taken it on with admirable results. But to excel involves capturing the feeling of the late '80s and early '90s, rather than just imitating the music. Surfer Blood, after a hellish year that saw frontman John Paul Pitts accused of - but not charged for - domestic battery, are bouncing back and doing it right...
- www.nme.com
2013-06-21
★★★★★
If Surfer Blood's 2010 debut, Astro Coast, conjured a nondescript mid-'90s alternative rock radio sound-pop melodies, crunchy distorted guitars and the occasional multi-part harmony--its follow-up, Pythons, gets more specific. Producer Gil Norton seems to have helped the band focus its energies, landing somewhere around 1995 and referencing early Weezer, Superdrag, Spacehog, and other post-grunge, modern-rock hit makers...
- www.undertheradarmag.com
2013-06-21
★★★★★
You pretty much know where you're going with Florida's Surfer Blood: melodic surf rock viewed through a sepia-tinged Instagram filter. It's music for summer road-trips that feature station wagons with the windows down and surfboards bungeed to the roof. That was the successful recipe on their 2010 debut Astro Coast, and new album Pythons doesn't stray far from the feel good movie formula. At least, not to begin with...
- drownedinsound.com
2013-06-14
★★★★★
"Apologies, meet apologies," Surfer Blood's John Paul Pitts sings on "Demon Dance", the lead-off track from his band's second LP, Pythons. Pitts spends most of Pythons pleading, bargaining, rationalizing, trying to make some sense of an increasingly dire situation in any way he can. There's a longstanding tendency in pop music to read too much autobiography into lyrics...
- pitchfork.com
2013-06-14
★★★★★
Goto commentsLeave a commentTweetShare Where's the surf? Where's the Blood? In the wake of 2009's auspicious single "Swim," Surfer Blood has performed at major music festivals like Austin's South by Southwest, toured with The Pixies, been all over the radio and have even been the focus of celebrity tabloids-- overall, a pretty decent resume for a bunch of guys still in their 20s...
- www.mxdwn.com
2013-06-12
★★★★★
Pythons is a fitting name for Surfer Blood's sophomore record. Like the serpents with their coils, the 10 songs here may initially be overlooked, then before you know it, they're wrapped around you without any sign of loosening their grip. The listener may underestimate their melodies for they are so immediate and do not hold anything back, but by the third or fourth time you've spun the disc, there's no getting the hooks out of your head...
- www.popmatters.com
2013-06-12