Music of the Day, 19 June 2024
let's go anywhere
Last night, I picked up Illusions for bedtime reading. It has long been special to me: my mother gave me my first copy, in which she had underlined specific passages. That meant the world to me, especially after the brain cancer that took her life first took her presence from us. Somewhere along the way, I lost that book; years later I wrote about it, and a dear friend on another continent sent me a copy, including a sweet note in it. It isn’t an exact replacement, of course—if anything, it has richer meaning for me. I read a couple of chapters before going to sleep.
I woke up this morning wanting to listen to Nada Surf. Not their hit song “Popular”—I’m not sure I’ve ever heard it all the way through. I discovered the band’s 20031 album Let Go on a friend’s music server and instantly liked it. For a couple of years, it was in heavy rotation. Listening to the album earlier today, I’m not sure why it fell out of favor.
I’m also not sure exactly why Richard Bach’s tale of a reluctant messiah triggered the band’s name to pop up in my memory, but I’m glad it did. Today’s MotD was selected because the dual meaning of its title caught my fancy.
Reacquainting myself with “Hi-Speed Soul” after a couple of decades was a pleasure. It’s a nice blend of pop and slightly punkish guitar. What really drives it for me is Ira Elliot’s masterful drumming … especially his cymbal work. I’m torn between focusing on the music and the slightly disaffected lyrics, because it’s all luscious. The song’s bridge blends ethereal lyrics/vocals and insistent percussion … and then it breaks down to a tasty bass riff leading into an extended outro that could go on for another five minutes of jamming without any complaint from me.
All three band members—Elliot, plus Matthew Caws on guitar and lead vocals and Daniel Lorca on bass and backing vocals—share songwriting credit on all of Let Go’s songs, which results in a gorgeous tightness in both lyrics and music for each piece. Each song is unique2 and cohesive, reminding me of Rush in many ways. There’s no weak song on this album.
As it’s the only Nada Surf album I have, I’m torn between staying true to it and exploring other albums at the risk of being disappointed. For today, I’ll be playing the entire album on repeat, just as I used to do many days in wintry Wisconsin.
it was released in fall 2002 in Europe
some sound like they’re acoustic to my inexpert ear, while others (like “Hi-Speed Soul”) use electrified instruments