The Spinnaker

Jan. 25 brought West Palm-based group Surfer Blood to Cafe Eleven. It also brought leader of the popcorn princesses, Cassie, her 21st birthday, a celebration, that for unknown reasons, took place at the same venue.

Surfer Blood’s only album, “Astro Coast,” dropped earlier this year, relatively unnoticed. What brought them to the stage last Monday night was an opening performance slot for the wildly overrated Israeli group Monotonix (whom’s mosh-obsessed-yet-inexperienced fan group made up the majority of the crowd). I mean, I wouldn’t have paired the two together, but it sure was a nice break from the first openers, Jax boys BLORR.

Guitarist Thomas Fekete and lead singer John Paul Pitts look like two somebodies who’d be good to build pillow forts with but get good, surfy (forgive me) vibes riled up without an issue.

But then again, it’s pretty tough to ignore just how damn cute Pitts was waving around his shiny, candy apple red Gibson and his wallet-worn jeans. Cassie and the rest of the Zima commercial, fresh from a Relient K show and not yet free from a serious case of pogo fever, would probably agree to this sentiment as made obvious by resounding and recurring “WOOOOOOO!s” and hair flips (my friend Alicia simply couldn’t take it after a while and after a bit, excused herself for an extended cigarette break).

Although heavily reminiscent of Vampire Weekend (especially on “Take It Easy” [which, OK, definitely sports serious Shins cues, too]), Blood uses super fun coconutty percussion, earnest vocal stylings and honest, good spirits to present a lovely concert-going experience.

The zenith of Jan. 25’s evening? Hands down — when Surfer Blood gushed out “Swim,” the second track from ‘Astro.’ Oof. Yeah. The vinyl sticker’d floor tom rippled like a chubby kid’s cannonball into the summer camp’s filmy lake. Pitts’s voice hollered more like Tom Gabel in some areas than his typically dreamier approach. Some fluffy-haired guy in the group whacked various shit with two yellow maracas. And the energetic response from the listeners!

So thanks for the killer evening, my new favorite 561 crew.

Cassie, hope your buzzing, hungover head could handle that cider-soaked bar tab in the morning.

And to you, dear reader(s), happy astro coasting. Make sure you don’t forget to secure those blankets with plenty of hair ties.

Popularity: 2% [?]