There's no shortage of bands claiming affinity with Weezer's '90s heyday, but few can match the veteran power-poppers' knack for pairing crunchy riffs with sticky hooks. But Regina's Surf Dads have managed just that on their new EP, Long Weekend.
Fans of bands like Rozwell Kid and Japandroids will find much to love across the record's four blistering anthems. Singer Gage McGuire's howl is as powerful as it is infectious — the Dirty Nil's Luke Bentham is a good analogue — and nowhere is this as apparent as on opener "All My Friends." But he's just as capable of eliciting real emotion as he is fury, a double threat of a voice if there ever was one.
Last year's All Day Breakfast LP hinted at the duo's capabilities, but they've sharpened their songwriting in a surprisingly short amount of time. Where that record was a catchy, if somewhat breezy affair, every song on Long Weekend crushes. Chalk it up to McGuire and drummer Chris Dimas realizing that if the energy level starts at 11, there's really nowhere else to go but down. Instead, they've learned to give themselves room to build songs up, bring them down and then let them explode again. Final track "Liars" best showcases that musical journey which, even in the confines of three-minute guitar rock, hooks listeners in and takes them for a ride.
To be sure, Surf Dads aren't reinventing any wheels here, but they're doing a damn good job of perfecting it.
(Grind Central)Fans of bands like Rozwell Kid and Japandroids will find much to love across the record's four blistering anthems. Singer Gage McGuire's howl is as powerful as it is infectious — the Dirty Nil's Luke Bentham is a good analogue — and nowhere is this as apparent as on opener "All My Friends." But he's just as capable of eliciting real emotion as he is fury, a double threat of a voice if there ever was one.
Last year's All Day Breakfast LP hinted at the duo's capabilities, but they've sharpened their songwriting in a surprisingly short amount of time. Where that record was a catchy, if somewhat breezy affair, every song on Long Weekend crushes. Chalk it up to McGuire and drummer Chris Dimas realizing that if the energy level starts at 11, there's really nowhere else to go but down. Instead, they've learned to give themselves room to build songs up, bring them down and then let them explode again. Final track "Liars" best showcases that musical journey which, even in the confines of three-minute guitar rock, hooks listeners in and takes them for a ride.
To be sure, Surf Dads aren't reinventing any wheels here, but they're doing a damn good job of perfecting it.