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Poplife celebrated its anniversary at Grand Central Saturday night with an awesome concert rocked by shoegaze pop darlings, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and manic guitar machines, Surfer Blood.
POBPAH came out at eleven on the dot. Moments after the adorably gangly lead singer and guitarist, Alex Naidus, gracefully thanked us all for coming, the band kicked off the set with effervescent musical muscle. POBPAH played a slew of popular songs from their self titled LP and some from their newest EP, “Higher than the Stars.” While everyone loved the obvious ones such as “Come Saturday” and “Young Adult Friction,” other tracks, like “This Love is Fucking Right!,” stood out for their sheer energy. Not only do POBPAH love playing music, they love playing music that deals with love itself: first crushes, kisses, sex, and everything else that makes you feel warm and fuzzy and yummy. Oh yeah, and heroin and vicodin too.
Overall, the band was able to create energy in both the creation and production of the sound. POBPAH won my heart because they were so happy to be there. This was evident in both their music and their attitude -- from the lead singer’s bashful smile in response to the crowd’s enthusiasm, to the way my newest girl crush, keyboardist Peggy Wang, drunkenly danced and giggled whilst harmonizing and making silly side commentary. POBPAH had a such a freaking cute thing going on and I fell hard for them.
After POBPAH generated such lovable presence onstage, I had high expectations for Surfer Blood, especially since they are South Florida natives. But while lead singer, JP Pitts, announced that they were “happy to be back home,” it didn’t really seem like it – there was something lacking right off the bat, as if the band members were a bit unsettled. To some, this probably went unnoticed, considering that the band kicked off with an awesome opener of “Floating Vibes.” Soon after they finished their second song though, their initial attitude was explained: guitarist, Tom Fekete, thanked everyone for coming and said “too bad this place is run by a bunch of dicks.” He then ate the microphone…. and the crowd ate it up. Everyone hooted and screamed out of love for Surfer Blood. The band members laughed off their resentment and loosened up...and the rest was history. What followed was an almost flawless show.
I heard that this band is incredible live, and they were. Between the powerful, resonating guitar textures, to the way Pitts flamboyantly marched/jammed/pranced around stage (you should have seem him on the dance floor afterwards), to just the overbearingly robust sound this band produces, I couldn’t help but get completely lost in the sweet sixties noise. Surfer Blood covered most of their debut LP, “Astro Coast,” with domination and rocker spirit. And some improvised additions only heightened the live experience, like when Pitts asked a friend to join in for a guitar guest spot or when he crowd surfed during “Swim (To Reach the End).”
Overall, Surfer Blood lived up to everything I heard they could be and perhaps even more. And their encore, a cover of Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy” with the help of POBPAH, could not have been cooler (Wait… is that Peggy Wang I spy with a tambourine on her head?). Who thought shoegaze and guitar rock could sound so good together?
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