Nada Surf The Weight Is A Gift. Release Date : September 20, 2005. Label: Barsuk. Rating: Excellent. (Screw points. To each his own!) I still associate Nada Surf with that popular song "Popular" (oh I bet that's the first time that joke's ever been used with them), one of those songs I clearly identify with the summer I really started listening to rock music. It's nostalgic, it was a poppy tune with a weird speaking verse that got overplayed not unlike that "Closing Time" song or that "Flagpole Sitta" tune. And, not unlike Semisonic or Harvey Danger, I didn't hear much or pay attention to what they were doing since that time. But recently, Nada Surf has popped back, popular again. While they've been so with indie royalty Barsuk Records for a number of years, I'm not sure if it's just my lack of attentiveness, or their lack of oomph that kept me from realizing it. Because, just thinking back to that long-ago single, I wouldn't have ever envisioned this band appearing on a label such as Barsuk. But, here they are! So indeed, when I got the record, I raised a curious eyebrow at it. Suddenly I'm hearing of tours and all these hyper indie hipster kids being all "hey man, you going to the Nada Surf gig? Cool." What? Where did they spring up from suddenly? True, my radio is not tuned to the local college station, so perhaps that is my faux pas, but this still seems like a surprising resurgence. Good for them though, sticking through it for a decade and triumphing. A lesson learned for us all, it would seem. So here I drop in the record, thinking about the poppy mid-90's rock of the past, yet knowing the Barsuk sound is pretty different from that... and have found, hurrah, it's like a well-fit Barsuk record. Gently indie-shoegazer, with a lightly lispy voice that makes it real and intimate. I mean, it could quite easily be the brother to Death Cab For Cutie, being of course the band that made Barsuk such an indie household name. I say that just in the slight trillness of the vocals that sounds harmonized even when it's one track, and the thrumming indie-itude of the instruments. The songs themselves are far lighter and more upbeat sounding. Maybe it's the more innocent and starry-eyed younger brother of DCFC, where DCFC is the harsh truth. Okay various forms of 'indie' have popped up 4 million times in this review, but really, this is a label that, along with Matador and Subpop, really defined the sound that one commonly associates with *college rock indie* circa turn-of-the-millenium. So it stands to reason... Anyhow, the tunes are quite delightful. Nothing seems off or poorly done. Neither does anything stand out beyond the others as being spectacular. There are some cool bits and bobs, like the sombre opening drone to "Your Legs Grow." The band does seem to rely though on the same few points through the disc, which I don't really have a problem with. Maybe I'm still waiting for some insanely catchy pop gem to show up! I may have spoken too soon though - "All Is A Game" changes up the feeling of the disc a bit. I can't exactly pinpoint what it is that makes this track seem so different from the rest of the album. Already there have been some more chipper tunes, and some that are slower and more minimal. "All Is A Game" though, has an interesting melody. I think that's most of it. There's also a breakdown in the middle of the song, a completely new chunk of sound that is indeed, dare I say, poppy. This seems to maybe be a turning point in general, as "Blankest Year" rips up a notch further with a jittery foot-tappable guitar sequence and *heavens to murgatroid* a bunch of f-words! Horrors. This is a neat little track though, swingy. Happy. And now I'm lured into calm ocean waters with "Comes A Time..." Oh wow. Slow and simple, with a rumbling guitar whine - somewhere between a slide and an ebow. Beautiful. Gorgeously swimmy. Hark, am I in love? Aiiee! Well, a slow start has turned into a diverse album. I can see how the resurgence arrived. It's very warranted. But still very odd. Song of choice : Love "Comes A Time." Love love love. -Andy Scheffler Elsewhere Nada Surf website Published : January, 2007.