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".
I'm Not Ready
Surfer Blood Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Laugh it off now but ?
Let me explain what everyone's already said
You know I'm only looking out for you
Say you don't believe me; "I know better"
Flaking out again when we could be together?
You wonder why you've got no one else to turn to
And I'm not ready to look the other way
Take a look under the microscope man
Try and ignore the disarray
And I'm not ready to look the other way
Take a look under the microscope man
Try and ignore the disarray
Your mouth is running off
Now that you've seen a few things
You're talking down to me
But i can see that no ones listening
So you've found some one new
To lap your shit up for a while
Honestly
Sooner or later they will find out what you're made of
So ugly
And then its over
Come on man you know that's not good for you
Laugh it off now but ?
Let me explain what everyone's already said
You know I'm only looking out for you
Say you don't believe me; "I know better"
Flaking out again when we could be together?
You wonder why you've got no one else to turn to
You know I'm only looking out for you
And I'm not ready to look the other way
Take a look under the microscope man
Try and ignore the disarray
Your mouth is running off
Now that you've seen a few things
You're talking down to me
But i can see that no ones listening
So you've found some one new
To lap your shit up for a while
Honestly
Sooner or later they will find out what you're made of
So ugly
And then its over
And now you can't count on me
'Cause I can't count on you to be
Honest with me
How I can believe
How I can believe
To be a friend means owning up and giving all of yourself
And loyalty is started through loving others like self
And now explain to me that you could be any of these
And we don't have to hold on anymore ?
The song I'm Not Ready by Surfer Blood is a tale of a friend warning another of their self-destructive behavior. The first few lines convey the concern of the friend, urging the other person to quit their harmful habits. However, the other person denies their wrongdoing, and the friend encourages them to believe what everyone else is saying.
The chorus of the song, "I'm not ready to look the other way," highlights the singer's refusal to ignore their friend's destructive behavior. They encourage their friend to take a closer look at themselves and acknowledge their problems. The lyrics, "Try and ignore the disarray," signify how the friend can't neglect the situation anymore and wants significant change to take place.
The bridge of the song conveys the singer's frustration towards their friend's newfound arrogant behavior, and the latter's constant dismissals. They warn the person that their facade will not last long as others will eventually realize how phony and ugly they are.
In conclusion, the song I'm Not Ready by Surfer Blood tells a story of a friend genuinely concerned about their counterpart's wellbeing, urging them to quit self-destructive behavior to prevent any negative outcomes.
Line by Line Meaning
Come on man you know that's not good for you
I'm concerned for your well-being and you know this isn't healthy for you.
Laugh it off now but ?
You might be trying to play it cool, but deep down, you know I'm right.
Let me explain what everyone's already said
I know you've heard this from others, but let me try to help you see why they're right.
You know I'm only looking out for you
I wouldn't be saying this if I didn't care about you and your well-being.
Say you don't believe me; "I know better"
You might be trying to act like you know more than me, but consider my perspective too.
Flaking out again when we could be together?
You keep missing opportunities to hang out with me, and it's becoming frustrating.
You wonder why you've got no one else to turn to
If you keep pushing away the people trying to help you, you might end up alone.
And I'm not ready to look the other way
I can't ignore what's going on because I care about you too much.
Take a look under the microscope man
You need to examine the situation closely and honestly.
Try and ignore the disarray
Don't pretend everything's fine when it's clearly not.
Your mouth is running off
You're talking a lot but not really saying anything helpful.
Now that you've seen a few things
You might think you know a lot, but there's still so much to learn.
You're talking down to me
You're not treating me as an equal in this conversation.
But I can see that no one's listening
You're not making any sense, and no one is really paying attention to what you're saying.
So you've found someone new
You might think you've found someone who agrees with you, but that won't last forever.
To lap your shit up for a while
This person might be willing to tolerate your behavior for now, but they won't put up with it forever.
Sooner or later they will find out what you're made of
Eventually, this person will realize who you really are and see through your facade.
So ugly
It's not a pretty picture, and it's unfortunate that things have turned out this way.
And then it's over
When this person realizes what you're really like, they'll likely end the relationship.
And now you can't count on me
Because you haven't been honest with me, I can no longer be there for you like I once was.
'Cause I can't count on you to be
I need you to trust and be honest with me, but unfortunately, you haven't been able to do that.
Honest with me
Being truthful is the foundation of any good relationship, and it's important that we can trust each other.
How I can believe
I need to know that you're telling me the truth so I can trust you again.
To be a friend means owning up and giving all of yourself
Being a true friend means being honest, vulnerable, and committed to the relationship.
And loyalty is started through loving others like self
We build loyalty by treating others the way we would like to be treated and caring for them deeply.
And now explain to me that you could be any of these
Tell me that you're willing to work on the relationship and be honest with me from now on.
And we don't have to hold on anymore?
If you're not willing to be honest and work on the relationship, we might have to let go.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOHN PAUL PITTS, THOMAS JOHN FEKETE, TYLER JERRY SCHWARZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind