Album Review
Before I write anything, you must understand how much I love Nada Surf's previous album, Let Go. I would certainly put it among my top 20 favorite albums of all time. Whenever you have a situation like that, you cross your fingers and hope their next album can be nearly as good. Well, I would go so far as to say it's better, but in a different way. It's like a companion piece to Let Go. They didn't dramatically change their sound as some bands might after a huge hit, afraid of being compared to their previous effort. As I listened to The Weight Is a Gift, I kept wondering, "Could this band ever go wrong?"
On first listen, the album sounds much more poppy and cheerful than Let Go as a whole. This tone is set from the start with "Concrete Bed," its lush vocals and breezy guitar. But the more I listen to the remaining songs, the more they resemble the tone of Let Go. There are more concise, midtempo rock and pop songs and fewer ballads. It's really hard to pick a standout because they are all solid. I would probably choose "What Is Your Secret." I think the reason is the memorable lyrics that permeate this entire album, such as "Our movies don't play much anymore / the actress was fired." Another personal favorite phrase comes from "Imaginary Friends": "Lenny Bruce's bug eyes."
Recently, I have been inundated with new music, and I'm lucky to listen to most albums even once in their entirety. However, I have probably listened to this album at least 10 times since I got it two weeks ago. I have only two somewhat negative things to say about it. First, if you are put off by bad language in songs, you might not enjoy "Blankest Year," in which the F-word is repeated several times. Admittedly, I don't like such language in songs, and I don't like the trend toward it. However, this song is so catchy that you might look past it. It astonishes me that they included it. Second, there are about five minutes of silence after the last song before something almost as unrewarding starts up. Again, I have no idea why bands do this. Either way, it shouldn't stop you from buying this album!
