Founding members John Paul Pitts and Tyler Schwarz started playing music together in Orlando, Florida. They met Thomas Fekete at an Ultra Music Festival after party in Miami and the group was formed with the immediate goal of releasing a record and touring nonstop.
The band was originally called Jabroni Sandwich. Schwarz randomly came up with the name Surfer Blood during a conversation with Pitts about his surfer backpack from high school.
The band's 2009 debut single "Swim" gained much critical acclaim and was named as the 37th best track on Pitchfork's 100 Best Songs of 2009. They released their debut album Astro Coast in January 2010.
The band were widely considered to be the breakout band of 2009's CMJ Music Marathon. In March 2010, playing songs from their debut album Astro Coast, Surfer Blood made quite a splash at the SXSW NPR music party (and returned to SXSW in 2011). In May 2010, the band played at the ATP music festival curated by Pavement along with other groups such as Broken Social Scene, The Walkmen, and Atlas Sound. Later that month, Surfer Blood headed over to Spain to join the lineup at the San Miguel Primavera Sound Festival. In August of that year, Surfer Blood finished out the summer playing two more festivals; Splendour in the Grass in Australia and Summer Sonic in Tokyo.
The band was chosen by Les Savy Fav to perform at the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas festival that they co-curated in December 2011 in Minehead, England.
On October 25, 2011, Surfer Blood released the Tarot Classics EP on Kanine Records. The EP's first single "Miranda" debuted on Pitchfork on August 30, 2011 and "I'm Not Ready" was named NPR's Song of the Day on December 8, 2011. Artists that contributed remixes to the EP include Totally Sincere (Connor Hanwick of the Drums and Peggy Wang of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart), Speculator, School of Seven Bells and Allen Blickle.
The band opened for the Pixies during their Doolittle Lost Cities Tour in 2011. The tour came about after Pitts met the Pixies in an airport in New Zealand and they said they were already familiar with Surfer Blood's music. Surfer Blood performed a cover of their song "Gigantic" for the AV Club's music-video series "AV Undercover" which Pitts says he'd like to think that was "the needle that broke the camel's back when it came to the decision" to tour with them.
On January 9, 2012, they appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon where they performed the single "Miranda" off of Tarot Classics. The next day, news spread that the band would be entering the studio in February 2012 with producer Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Built to Spill) to record their highly anticipated second album which was released on Warner Bros. Records.
In May 2012, the band confirmed via their Twitter account that they were moving to California on May 12, 2012 to record their second album with legendary producer Gil Norton.
On January 21, 2013, they uploaded a new song off their next album, Pythons, called "Weird Shapes".
In February 2014, the band announced that work on their third record had begun.
On May 20, 2014, the band debuted a video of them playing a new song titled "Island". The song has been played before back in 2011, during various radio sessions.
On September 16, 2014, a new song titled "NW Passage" was debuted on Soundcloud, as part of their split single with We Are Scientists.
On February 17, 2015, the band announced their third album "1000 Palms" and that it would be released on Fierce Panda / Joyful Noise Recordings on May 12. The lead single, "Dorian", was premiered on BBC Radio 1 at midnight.
Original guitarist Thomas Fekete left the band in 2015 shortly after the announcement of their third album, "1000 Palms," due to a medical diagnosis for a rare form of cancer (Sarcoma) that had spread to his lungs and spine. The band announced a fundraising effort to help alleviate Thomas' medical bills through the site GoFundMe on April 20, 2015. On May 31, 2016, Fekete's wife Jessica announced that he had passed away.
In April 2015, the song "Swim" was featured in an episode of the Netflix series "Daredevil."
Surfer Blood shared the video for album track "Island" in June 2015, in support of "1000 Palms".
In October 2015, the band announced that their longtime bassist, Kevin Williams, was leaving the band to pursue a new job in Austin, TX. The band later announced that their long time friend from high school, Lindsey Mills, would be replacing Kevin on bass.
Discography
Albums
Astro Coast (2010) #124 U.S.
Pythons (2013) #127 U.S.
1000 Palms (2015) #160 U.S.
Snowdonia (2017)
EPs
Tarot Classics (October 25, 2011)
Singles
"Swim" (2009)
"Slow Jabroni" (2009)
"Take It Easy" (17-04-2010, Kanine Records)
"Swim" (01-05-2010, re-release on Rough Trade)
"Floating Vibes" (28-09-2010, Kanine Records)
"Miranda" (2011, Kanine Records)
"Demon Dance" (2013, Warner Bros. Records)
"Spanish Bombs" (2013, Warner Bros. Records)
"I Can't Explain" (2015, Joyful Noise Recordings)
Appearances in media
The band's song "Swim" is playable in the video game Power Gig: Rise of the SixString. "Swim" and "Floating Vibes" have also been released as downloadable content for the Rock Band video game series through its Rock Band Network service. "Floating Vibes" also appears in video game "Test Drive Unlimited 2". The band's song and music video for "Demon Dance" appears in the video game "Guitar Hero Live".
Catholic Pagan
Surfer Blood Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I could never hold a job
Coupled with a weakness for cocaine and liquor
Not much a candidate for love
When I met you I broke the mold
I fell apart and combed my hair
Whiskey shakes for ten whole days
I don't want to be a catholic pagan now that you're here
We fell in on each other
For love, survival and everything else
Please don't padlock your parents bomb shelter
Or fill her up with dust and ash
A landfill mecca for burn-outs and listless
Adolescent sour mash
I'm not saying that I've earned love
But I could really use it now
So turn out the lights over and over and over
We'll figure out the rest somehow
I don't wanna be your Russian bride
Not any more
Barack Hussein Obama would have a field day
If he knew at all
So-o-o-o-o have to go
Oooooooo
Have to go-o-o-o-o
The lyrics of Surfer Blood's song "Catholic Pagan" describe the singer's struggle with addiction and disconnection from society before he finds love. The opening lines reveal that the singer could never be still for long and could not hold down a job, likely due to struggles with addiction to cocaine and alcohol. He acknowledges that he is not a suitable candidate for love. However, when he meets the person he addresses in the rest of the song, he says he "broke the mold" and began to turn his life around. He even had the motivation to stop drinking and avoid the streets for a while.
The chorus, "I don't want to be a catholic pagan now that you're here," suggests that the singer has found love and feels more grounded and connected to the world, rather than feeling like a disconnected "catholic pagan." He feels like he has fallen in love for "survival and everything else." In the second verse, the singer asks his partner not to padlock their parents' bomb shelter or turn it into a landfill for "burn-outs and listless adolescent sour mash." This line could be seen as a metaphor for how the singer has gone from feeling alone and isolated to having a loving relationship and being surrounded by others who care for him.
The final lines of the song: "I don't wanna be your Russian bride / Not any more / Barack Hussein Obama would have a field day / If he knew at all / So-o-o-o-o have to go / Oooooooo / Have to go-o-o-o-o" leave the song on a bit of a mysterious note. It's unclear what the singer means by "I don't wanna be your Russian bride," but it could be interpreted as the singer rejecting some sort of stereotype or societal expectation placed on him. He ends the song by saying he has to go, leaving the listener with a sense of uncertainty about what comes next.
Line by Line Meaning
Never could be still for long
I have always been restless
And I could never hold a job
I have never been able to stick to one job for very long
Coupled with a weakness for cocaine and liquor
I struggle with drug and alcohol addiction
Not much a candidate for love
I do not have much hope of finding love
When I met you I broke the mold
You changed something fundamental in me
I fell apart and combed my hair
I let my guard down and became vulnerable
Whiskey shakes for ten whole days
I drank heavily for days on end
Stayed off the streets at night for weeks
I tried to avoid dangerous situations
I don't want to be a catholic pagan now that you're here
I do not want to follow beliefs that do not align with yours
We fell in on each other
We became deeply involved with each other
For love, survival and everything else
We are together for all aspects of life
Please don't padlock your parents bomb shelter
I hope you do not cut yourself off from me or others
Or fill her up with dust and ash
I hope you do not give up on your future
A landfill mecca for burn-outs and listless
A place of hopelessness and despair
Adolescent sour mash
Indicative of our shared difficult pasts
I'm not saying that I've earned love
I do not deserve love just by being me
But I could really use it now
I need love now more than ever
So turn out the lights over and over and over
Let us bask in each other's company
We'll figure out the rest somehow
We will find our way together
I don't wanna be your Russian bride
I do not want to be an unwanted and undervalued partner
Not any more
I want to be seen as equal in this relationship
Barack Hussein Obama would have a field day
An unexpected and humorous statement of how far we have come
If he knew at all
The extent of our unconventional relationship is not understood by everyone
So-o-o-o-o have to go
I have to leave now
Oooooooo
A drawn-out, emotional expression of parting
Have to go-o-o-o-o
A continuation of the above
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOHN PAUL PITTS, THOMAS FEKETE, THOMAS JOHN FEKETE, TYLER SCHWARZ, TYLER JERRY SCHWARZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind