Surfer Blood

Less than a year after inception, Surfer Blood was high on the hype list — the New York Times sang the band's praises, and a Reading Festival appearance was on the horizon — but it's those big steps that often spell disaster for a baby band. Instead of imploding on itself, however, the Florida quintet enjoyed a spirited ride, producing reverb-heavy hollers and loud, lingering guitar sounds that shot with clarity from its 2010 debut, Astro Coast. References to sun and surf are integral/inevitable parts of the group's tropical soundscape, but it's the young dudes' sense of humor that may contribute most to Surfer Blood's longevity (see the video for "Swim," featuring a Mickey and Minnie Mouse beating the crap out of a guy with a walker). Surfer Blood makes music that could have happened fifteen years ago, but it sits nicely between contemporaries like Wavves and Vampire Weekend while paying obvious homage to the Beach Boys' early time in the sand.