Artist- Surfer Blood
Album- Astro Coast
Record Label- Kanine Records
3.5 out of 5 Pitchforks

Heavy guitar riffs and some arena-ready choruses. Maybe even a little bit of yelling thrown in for good measure. Chill out, bro, I’m not talking about the new Nickelback album — I’m talking about the new record, “Astro Coast,” from the much-hyped indie rock band Surfer Blood.

The foursome from West Palm Beach are some of the freshest faces in the music scene and they are already turning heads with the fuzzy but forceful guitar riffs and vocal explosions that punctuate “Astro Coast.”

The shredding showcase takes hold right away with the opening track “Floating Vibes,” and doesn’t let up on tracks like “Twin Peaks” or “Fast Jabroni.” The huge verses and chorus of “Swim” features singer John Paul Pitts yelling as though his life depended on it, giving the song an enticing sense of urgency and vigor that seems to be lost on so many contemporary bands.

It seems all too obvious that a band with the name Surfer Blood would make a few surf-rock inspired songs, but surprises be damned, they did it anyway — and they still sound pretty good. The well-polished “Take It Easy” has a bouncy groove and the instrumental “Neighbour Riffs” relies on a rising and falling bass line to put out the classic surf vibe.

Things seem to be going swimmingly for Surfer Blood but the downside of “Astro Coast” lies at the end of the album. The exciting rock tracks give way to slow-paced numbers and the sense of urgency that made the album so dynamic is forfeited. Songs like the slowly unfolding “Slow Jabroni” or “Catholic Pagans” are not bad individual tracks but they lack the spark of the earlier tunes and bog down the momentum of the preceding tracks.

The wild card of “Astro Coast” is the mature “Anchorage.” Likely a sign of where the band is headed, “Anchorage” maintains an appealing rawness but is far more developed and focused than the rest of the album and is the signature track of the record.

There are a lot of doors open to Surfer Blood after this release. They’ve demonstrated ability to masterfully craft raucous rock jams, slowed down ballads and well thought out indie rock. Whichever avenue they choose to pursue in their future endeavors will likely work out well for them.

Despite all of the acclaim, “Astro Coast” is not a perfect debut album, but it is an extremely promising one. There is obvious room for the band to grow but there is a solid foundation for them to build upon. The future looks bright for Surfer Blood.

Reach the reporter at jdfourni@asu.edu