Back in 1996, Nada Surf had a major hit with their song, “Popular.” It was a take down of the fickle elements of high school popularity.
The band easily could have become just one more one-hit-wonder littering the pop-rock landscape. Their record label wanted another “Popular” and their follow-up didn’t have one. Then, like happens often, the A&R asshole at the label began imposing his total creative cluelessness on the true creatives who made up the band. This process never results in anything positive, and yet labels have been doing this kind of thing, forever. Elektra dropped the band mid-tour, while they were in Europe. So much for “developing talent,” A&R schmuck!
To Nada Surf’s credit, they persevered. This meant touring whenever they could to rebuild U.S. interest in their band, while taking on day jobs to pay the bills. Then, Let Go, their third record, and the true follow-up that they wanted to make to their debut record found a home on tiny Barsuk Records out of Seattle, Washington. The band got solid reviews and here we are, 15+ years later and Nada Surf are still going strong.
I have listened to Let Go as much as any record/disc I have in my library of music. Even though it came out in 2002, it has aged very well, not sounding dated like many other bands/artists I have from that era.
KEXP, one of my go-to streaming sources for music on the interwebs posted this about Barsuk and the station’s favorite records from the “little label that could,” now coming up on their special landmark anniversary like fellow Seattle label buddies, Sub Pop. For Barsuk, it’s 20 years!
Let Go is special, but I also adore their follow-up, which came out in 2005, The Weight Is a Gift. In some ways that record may be more meaningful for me at this juncture in life’s continuum. The album deals with the existential challenges of adulthood—the kind that when they happen to us test our mettle and make us wonder if we’ll be able to muddle through them.
Nada Surfing is the best!
There is nothing about Mark’s death, that if I had the power to undo the horrible timeline, I wouldn’t time-travel to alter what happened. I’d take my son back in a heartbeat! But, I know that’s not possible. So, I’m left (along with Mary) to pick up the pieces and find our forward. Perhaps we’ll even learn things about ourselves that we never would have known if Mark were here with us. It still totally sucks though!
The Weight Is a Gift speaks on that kind of level, as does Let Go, albeit with a slightly different shading.
The DJs at KEXP love the band (because they have great tastes in music!), so the band’s played several times. One of the many things I love about KEXP is that they record these shows and we get to watch them again (and again).
This one has Nada Surf performing the entire Let Go record in the station’s studios.