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Feb 3, 2017Getting these skills to jell means moving further away from the Surfer Blood that fans may be accustomed to, but Snowdonia hints at a rewarding payoff.
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Mar 9, 2017Employing many of the same recording techniques that he used on Astro Coast, Pitts and company have come up with by far their best record since then. Sure, nothing here is as instantly memorable as "Swim" or "Take it Easy," but much of the material here could've passed as Astro Coast outtakes, albeit with a more mature spin.
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MagnetFeb 14, 2017At times reminiscent of the Lilys' Better Can't Make Your Life Better, Snowdonia works within formula, but it does so with aplomb. [No. 139, p.61]
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Feb 3, 2017John Paul Pitts’ melodic prowess is what keeps me listening, even on a more chill album like Snowdonia. Something about his melodies and vocal timbre just hooks me and won’t let go. I just wish they would pump the volume back up!
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UncutFeb 1, 2017The flirtations with more dissonant sounds throughout also point to a welcome eagerness to roughen up the latest results of Surfer Blood's ongoing quest to find the happy medium between the Pixies and The Hollies. [Mar 2017, p.40]
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Feb 1, 2017Grief and hardship have changed Surfer Blood, there’s no denying that. But they deserve praise for making a record that still has its own joie de vivre and doesn’t completely overhaul the alphabet that has made the band a success in the first place.
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Feb 1, 2017After an unimaginably tough year, Surfer Blood should reap the rewards of soldiering on. Inspiring stuff.
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Feb 1, 2017Although those moments may be too fleeting to call Snowdonia a complete departure for the band, fans can will appreciate the added ambition here, on top of the elements they've come to know and love.
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Feb 10, 2017It’s Surfer Blood’s first album since their debut that doesn’t invite you to think about what could have been. It simply makes the most of what is.
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Apr 3, 2017For an album steeped so much in coming to terms with loss and grief, with finding redemption, and with starting anew, it captures Surfer Blood doing something they haven't done in years, and that's have fun making music.
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Mar 2, 2017Singer John Paul Pitts explains there are also other heavy themes on this record, varying from mental illness to car accidents. But still the sunniness pervades. Ironically perhaps, Snowdonia is a summery sounding record, produced in a time that could easily have called for a deep freeze for Surfer Blood.
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Q MagazineFeb 14, 2017They may not quite manage sustained quality, but they're getting closer. [Apr 2017, p.118]
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Feb 13, 2017It’s an island of emotion on an album that overall sounds curiously unaffected by the tumultuous events of the last few years.
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Feb 8, 2017You’ll want to listen to some tracks over and over again, some just once, and some for 30 seconds or less. Nevertheless, the tracks that work demonstrate what put Surfer Blood on the map in the first place: power pop ambition, surf rock style, and an implacable conviction to swim forward even when the waters seem too rough to handle.
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Feb 3, 2017After a difficult few years, Snowdonia proves that a steady hand and a playful surf-rock riff has seen Surfer Blood through the darkness and out the other side.
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Feb 2, 2017Sometimes, it sounds like Surfer Blood don't know exactly what to do next--which is understandable, considering the massive changes and losses they've experienced. However, there are enough promising moments on Snowdonia to suggest that they'll figure it out.
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Feb 2, 2017It’s a bright but unremarkable return, perhaps best represented by the opening track, Matter of Time, which is filled with a desire to seek salvation from their music.
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Feb 1, 2017A rather average document, already a relic on arrival, with about three standout songs among a soporific wash of over-polished Flying Nun imitations.