Album Review: Black Surf – Let’s Pretend It’s Summer (Self Released)

Black Surf, the British punk, grungy, and alternative rock band have released their debut album, ‘Let’s Pretend It’s Summer’. A nostalgic trip, tap out, that transports you back to a time of no responsibility, excitement of the unknown and blissful endless fuzzy summers.

It’s February, and England (at least the London area where I am) is seemingly stuck in temperatures that vary between 2 and 6 degrees Celsius (during the day) and I’m dreaming of summer already. Dreaming of the warmth of the sun on the back of my neck, ice-creams at the park, beers in the garden, and more. It all seems so far away, yet, in an instant, Black Surf take us there with a Weezer-ish blast of alternative rock. This is Let’s Pretend It’s Summer, and it’s a debut to warm up the mind, body and soul.

Done via body shakers, head bangers, and foot tappers such as …Army of Sheep, Sink, Vultures, and Lights Out. These are the tracks that make up the first third of the album (thereabouts) and each delivers frolicking fun in the sun, with likable different touches that add some genre-bending to things, but always in service to catchiness. There’s pop, there’s rock, there’s punk, there’s grunge, but most of all, there’s Black Surf and their sunny disposition. Albeit with a passion and relatable honesty that touches the heart.

There’s a real loveliness to their sound, where a constant slew of memorable melodies blend with stout rock energy and infectious choruses. Get Up, Burn It to the Ground, Bastard Man, Baby Blue Washburn… the middle part of the album doesn’t disappoint in the slightest. In fact, we start to hear more variety and more experimentation. Black Surf’s goal is clear here, and they nail that, but it doesn’t mean they can’t push some boundaries along the way too.

Also, please tell me the phone message that is played at the start of Bastard Man isn’t real!?

Love it or loathe it, they’re not going to be escaping the Weezer comparisons anytime soon, but there are far worse bands to be compared too, in my opinion. Especially as it’s not a ‘copy and paste’, rather Black Surf having been inspired by the legendary rockers. They’re carving out their own path, it just so happens to have a couple of stops at Weezerville along the way. Still, how enjoyable is Always a Way, José and its kickass chorus?

It, alongside the creative Dive, the dynamic Oh, Poor Me, the hefty Rebel & the Saint, and the groovy Are We Getting Closer? keeps the positive feelings about this record front and centre. You’d have to be a bit of a miserable soul to not find something to enjoy here, but chances are you’ll find more than you expected.

Black Surf – Let’s Pretend It’s Summer Track Listing:

1. …Army of Sheep
2. Sink
3. Vultures
4. Lights Out
5. Get Up
6. Burn It to the Ground
7. Bastard Man
8. Baby Blue Washburn
9. Always a Way, José
10. Dive
11. Oh, Poor Me
12. Rebel & the Saint
13. Are We Getting Closer?

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