The first set we caught on Sunday was Best Coast. As fellow Eleven team member Noah said, “One of the best of the fest. Best Coast oozed surf pop goodness that made me a melty hot mess. The perfect mid-afternoon treat for a hot Sunday in the park.” And this time, we actually agree with him.

Girls played next on the Aluminum stage. As usual, the crowd took a beating from the sun, zapping us concert-goers’ energy. Despite the heat, which caused several to retreat to cooler ground midway through the set, this was the largest crowd to which Girls have ever played, confessing to Eleven that they’ve never been so nervous for a show. Nerves didn’t stop Christopher Owens from putting on a stellar performance though. He’s a shy boy in-person, but once he gets on stage, boy does he know how to entertain a crowd—swaying his hips and dancing around like a little girl (a comparison he would probably welcome). Even though there were an extraordinary number of attendees, the crowd just couldn’t get into it with all the heat. Thankfully, heat didn’t stop us from getting down to “Morning Light,” “Hellhole Ratrace,” and “Lust for Life.” We love Girls!

We weren’t able to catch Washed Out, but Noah filled us in on the set: “On the slower side of life. But kept the beats goin’ and the crowd a movin’.”

Beach House was another band we were only able to watch from afar, but from where we sat, the sound was great. Noah, again, with a quote to leave us guessing: “The ideal festival band. Got your heart racing to EU nations such as Norway.” Err thanks, Noah.

While we were only able to withstand one song of Lightening Bolt’s raw, noise-rock set in the middle of our summer day, the rest of the crowd really seemed to dig their set. Gotta’ hand it to ‘em – not exactly sure how Brian Chippendale managed to project such an explosion of energy while rocking a sure-to-be-suffocating mask in the heat, but he really pulled through and delivered his typically prodigious drum performance.

Surfer Blood was up next, and drew a predictably large crowd of hipsters. Most striking about Surfer Blood was not their beachy pop music, but their age! We knew they were young, but really… that young?? What baby faces!

Major Lazer was a crowd favorite! Throngs of dance dudes lined up early in the day just to be close enough to catch Switch hump on stage. Noah called this set the most obscene show of the festival, and we’d have to agree. Kids love their Diplo!

Neon Indian was great. Alan Palomo was almost outshined by his adorable and dynamic live bandmate – the girl… It started out with a sultry teaser of hit “Should Have Taken Acid With You,” before turning into a surprisingly full, healthy sounding set. For those of us lucky enough to find spots in the shade, the heat was manageable, danceable even, as evidenced by bouts of drug induced jamming interspersed throughout the crowd. This was the one time when it seemed like there were drugs at this fest, which otherwise felt quite dry and sober.

Noah checked out Big Boi for us and reported the following: “Got expletive popping; a nearly perfect set list, covering his career with Outkast as well as his hits off Sir Lucious Left Foot.”

Depending on where you were standing for Sleigh Bells, it either sounded a like a muffled, crying elephant or the incredible attack of killer spaceships. The crowd was so dense that we couldn’t make it more than ten feet deep, where the sound was quiet and distorted. Deep in the front, however, Noah described it as “a regular dance party,” which apparently was a good thing. We left disappointed though, and saved our spots for Pavement.

Pavement’s appearance was hyped as a big reunion show, even though they’ve played several times already this summer. Having seen them at Coachella earlier this year, we have to say that this set did not live up to our expectations. That said, we can’t help but enjoy singing along to “Cut Your Hair” even if Stephen Malkmus lacked the heart to really excite the crowd. Noah described their set as being too polished, saying, “Playing a festival defeated the purpose of Pavement and it’s small club vibe.” We can’t argue this time.

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Absorbing all ocean metaphors between the 60s and the late 90s, surf rock has long been the medium of summer fun. But in the last decade of DIY spectacles splashing up an ocean-like internet arena, listeners fervently watched innumerable bands take the plunge into a larger online medium that mostly sounds like disorder. Of late it’s been either wipe-out, wash up deserted, get caught in riptides of messiah-like hype or judgmental dissent, or ride the wave long enough to finally earn high marks on their out-of-ten-scorecards and still see modest digital sustenance, see for example Animal Collective/Grizzly Bear/Vampire Weekend. Watching these bands be tested against mega waves of reception is like wondering which kid is going to go first in Lord of the Flies. But here’s Surfer Blood, a lightning rod through the cutthroat internet canonization of 00s indie. Astro Coast is a skillful and patient balancing act calmly recalling an anthology of pop, new-wave, and underground influences and then deftly rerouting it to listeners lost between Pandora and Pitchfork.

Surfer Blood – “Floating Vibes”

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Despite being written in the brig-like dorms of Florida USA Universities, Astro Coast bears significantly few marks of the College Try, an epithet made irrelevant by songwriter and singer John Paul Pitts, whose vast array of wise-beyond-his-20-or-so-years hooks smoothly break thumping rock-steady waves in carefully groomed skin of reverb that repels instead of attracts the sticky humidity in which his glow-rock classmates are steeped, see for example “Best Coast/Wavves.”  Boyishly confident without a pubescent shrill, vocal melodies efficiently lilt their way around each song’s path-finding sharp-corner turns, such as in the elegantly riffed “Floating Vibes.” Stomping out the first guitar thrusts of this first track, mega waves are nothing with Surfer Blood’s cool approach. “If you’re moving out to the west/then you better learn how to surf…/I swear that ocean, it’d swallow you fully/And it might have to follow you home.” Save sometimes Surfer Blood’s coy insider-joke tones, “Take it Easy,” “Harmonix” “Twin Peaks,” “Fast Jabroni” etc., are sobering and trustworthy as twin guitars cleverly navigate these as well as Astro Coast’s more shadowy, idiosyncratic routes like “Anchorage” and “Slow Jabroni,” which both ultimately converge on the same brilliant silver lining.

Recently signing on to Canine Records, Surfer Blood now has the sponsorship to illustrate their uniquely idealistic thesis that channels rather than possesses entire decades of fun: warm nostalgia for 60s anthems (including surf-rock), caustic post-punk, heartfelt twee, anxious garage, corky afrobeat, and the brainy verve of Phoenix-like synthesis.

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Surfer Blood – Swim (To Reach the End)

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

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