Category:
Rock / Pop

Try if you like:
Ben Kweller, Rogue Wave, Teenage Fanclub, The Lemonheads, Weezer

•   See These Bones

Nada Surf is turning into one of those reliable indie bands that just keeps returning with nice, dependable albums. Lucky is once again one of those albums.

Lucky marks the third album since their signing to Death Cab For Cutie's label, Barsuk. And that feels like such the perfect home for this indie-pop band. I still think the two bands should tour together. Ben Gibbard does lend some vocals on track 1, "See These Bones", a great, soaring track very reminiscent to where Nada Surf has come from.

With "I Like What You Say" the vocal layering really adds to depth of mid-tempo rocker. It's one of the catchiest songs on the album. The harmonies occur quite often on the album reminding me a lot of what bands like Teenage Fanclub do so well. See "Ice On The Wing" or "Whose Authority" for another of these mid-tempo catchy songs. "The Fox" seems a little more complex than what Nada Surf normally does. It adds a nice dimension to their palette. The closing song "The Film Did Not Go 'Round" did the same thing. A very nice, ballad that shows the band bearing all. There is even a bit of a folk feel on "Here Goes Something". You get that roots feel on a few other tracks in places as well.

The only reason I didn't give this album a 4.5, unlike their last two albums, is that they are all quite similar in content. If you were to pick up ANY of these albums you would get a good feel for what this band is about. Lucky seems to be a bit brighter and sunnier than Let Go or The Weight Is A Gift.

The package that I bought included a 4 song EP with acoustic versions of "Whose Authority" and "I like What You Say" as well as two bonus tracks "I Wanna Take You Home" and "Everyone's On Tour". A nice little addition for any fan.