Brightest Young Things

all photos: Joel Mittleman
all words: Svetlana

I have seen some soon-to-be-too-hot-to-handle bands at DC9: The Dodos, The Amazing Babies, The Vivian Girlses, xxes and so on and so forth: bands who in the next round of shows will be playing not a space this small but something bigger and (maybe) better. The shows always sell out and you walk out a little cramped but satisfied to have seen the bands just then and not three months later, and it helps you feel all cutting edge and great and ahead of the curve.
This was the case with Wednesday's Surfer Blood show as well.
Packed to the gills (with dudes), barely breathable and all the more satisfying for it (?)
But, lets start at the beginning, as one should:

We walked up the stairs to the Grooms. Someone mentioned to me that the drummer drummed the drums so hard that his drumstick flew into the crowd. Sadly, this story is pretty much the only memory I have of the band: it is not that I did not like them, it is just that I was almost completely taken back by my complete lack of any emotions or opinions about their music.

Moving forward, sandwiched in between the Grooms and the band everyone was there to see and text people about were Nashville's Turbo Fruits (previously of "Be Your own Pet" but a little more grown up and not quite as spastic and bratty now) who I loved. There, I said it. I was going to play it cool, but I can't. There was something so great about their "who gives a fuck, we're playing some rock'n'roll here and having fun with it, and that is all that should matter" attitude, their catchy old-fashioned British-invasion style hooks, a good throaty vocal lead and a vibe that slowly descends into almost rockabilliness at time, and I just looked them up and saw that the last time they were in DC they opened for Jay Reatard and, well, that makes perfect sense, with the throwback feel being only amplified by the fuzzy cameras and screens that DC9 now uses to let you see things you wouldn't normally see at sold out shows (that's a nice touch). If I was to sum it up, I'd say: it's music to play while drinking whiskey and playing darts and doing other things you really like, that make you feel really good about being a little bit bad.

Next up were a bunch of fresh faced kids who did not look older than 19 to me (I think they're 24 in real life) from Florida who somehow made the best record most of us have heard in 2010. Surfer Blood maybe only has 10 songs on their record but they're 10 really good songs, and they've been touring non-stop for months and they know how to play their really good songs really well (albeit the sound at DC9 did give in a couple of times).

John Paul Pitts has almost like a pop idol voice which comes off really well live, playful and confident enough to survive the surf guitar layerings making the songs the very definitions of crowd pleasers: they work for everyone: you want to sing along, they have you covered, you want to air guitar, they have you covered.

Their audience does seem to skew male, if the crowd at DC9 was any indication but I think that's what you get for calling your band "Surfer Blood" instead of "Beach House" and your album "Astro Coast" instead of "Teen Dream": you instantly appeal and repel the opposite genders. Which is a shame, but life is not always fair or perfect.

The set closed out with "SWIM" (predictable, sure, but a song so fist-pumpingly great is a natural climax and you can't fight nature) and as I ran out in hopes of breathing cold, fresh air after basically standing in the middle of a giant armpit for 2+ hours I felt satisfied and all cutting edge and great and ahead of the curve. (even if I wasn't).
Watch these kids, they have a lot more to give, I can smell the vague teen spirit on them.

Previously in Live DC:

• 2/9: LiveDC: Theophilus London @ 930 Club
• 2/9: Best Weekend Bets
• 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre
• 2/7: LiveDC: Augustana/ Graffiti6 @ 930 Club
• 2/6: LiveDC: All Things Go Presents: Reptar/ Casual Curious/ Fort Lean @ Gibson Guitar Showroom
• 2/6: LiveDC: TYCHO/ Beacon @ RNR Hotel
• 2/6: LiveDC: The Kills / Jeff The Brotherhood @ 9:30 Club