Kevin Bronson on April 14th, 2014

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Who: Surfer Blood at the Outdoor Stage
In 3 or Fewer Words: Low crumbly conditions
Memorable Because: There were no waves worth catching at Surfer Blood’s prosaic if harmless set Sunday afternoon. The Florida quartet sanded smooth the gritty, textured guitar pop sound of their tunes and let the hooks do all the work. It turns out the delightful production on their albums serves to obscure pedestrian talent more so than showcase songwriting genius. No sense of urgency whatsoever until they closed with “Swim,” an overt choice that suggests even Surfer Blood knew they had nothing else going on. Here’s a band you can bring home to your mother. They seemed like such nice boys.
What I’d Tell My Friend Who Was At Fishbone: You had the good sense to choose consummate performers over a Pitchfork favorite. Well done.
– Ben “Mouse” McShane