Nada Surf - if i had a hifi

We think the world needs a lot more Nada Surf just about, oh, right now. And fortunately for us -- and the rest of the planet -- the Brooklyn retro-pop/rock trio is back not a moment too soon with a spanking new album of twelve eclectic and inspired covers: the palindromically titled if i had a hifi, dropping June 8 via their own Madev Records. Everyone from Kate Bush to Depeche Mode to Dwight Twilley to The Moody Blues get the special Nada Surf treatment on hi-fi, a style that draws from the likes of 60's masters like The Who and The Byrds to the grittier jangle underground of Big Star and The Flaming Groovies. During a break after the release of their fifth studio album Lucky in 2008, the Surf-ers found that the concept of a covers album came to them "spontaneously."

"We really just wanted to do it organically", says singer-guitarist Matthew Caws, "whatever we felt like covering in the moment rather than trying to sum up our influences. It's whatever we were excited about in the months before making it." In addition to the more recognizable names on the album's tracklist are, of course, a few obscurities. Lead single "Electrocution" by Bill Fox of the long lost Cleveland band The Mice is an utterly brilliant Byrds/Petty-like rocker that, in a matter of 30 seconds, reveals itself as a well-chosen nugget, a throwback to a time when a Rickenbacker guitar, a kickin' 4-4 beat and a harmonied hook could make everything right again. Highly recommended.

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Nada Surf - "Electrocution" (from the album if i had a hifi)

Tracklisting:

Electrocution- Bill Fox
Enjoy the Silence- Depeche Mode
Love Goes On- The Go-Betweens
Janine- Arthur Russell
You Were So Warm- Dwight Twilley
Love and Anger- Kate Bush
The Agony of Laffitte- Spoon
Bye Bye Beaute- Coralie Clement
Question- Moody Blues
Bright Side- Soft Pack
Evolution- Mercromina
I Remembered What I Was Going to Say- The Silly Pillows