This article is going to start the same way Night Surf‘s 2017 debut EP Blasted! does; straight to the point. The opening song “So Long” just fires into this EP while painting amazing apocalyptic imagery, which I am a huge sucker for. Call me old fashioned but heartfelt descriptions of the end of the world shouted over catchy pop-punk guitars just gets me fucking jacked. The execution in “So Long” is so perfect that you can’t help but scream along:
And I want you to know
That I don’t need to go
And we can stare at the dying sun
and wait for nuclear winter!
As long as you’re by my side
I’ll be ready when it’s our time to die
Say so long to the falling stars
So much for being so lucky!
Yeah. That hits the spot. Thankfully, there’s more where that came from. “This Is What It Takes” follows up with the same raw energy that’s felt throughout the EP. The harmonized shouted/sung vocals fit so well together and give a very sincere feeling to the albums’ lyrics.
“Straight To” continues with the directness and just blasts open. There isn’t any time to relax during the opening 3 songs on this EP. I mean, if your trying to relax and looking for rest periods between songs, an album named Blasted! is probably a bad place to start. That should be a given, really. But I digress. They all hit one after another and, along with their shorter run time, it adds to the chaos presented by the lyrical content. It’s so good to sing along to!
And I’m alone in an echo chamber
Living completely under the radar
And if I escape I hope I never
See your face again.
My hope is wasted on you!
Alright. I have to keep it down. My wife is trying to sleep and all of my shouting is getting the dogs all riled up. Whatevs. This EP rips. The closing track “Lungs and Throat” finally gives you a moment to catch your breath before it goes on another tear. It feels like the final act compared to the blistering and slammed opening track “So Long” and gives the album a feeling of closure and completeness. Bleak closure and completeness. Not triumphant but defeated yet accepting.
So far from home
Hoping for the best all alone
I’ve lost my direction
I gave up the ghost
I’m waiting for this moment to go.
With no one around to hold my hand
I’m heading to the dark all alone.
I head into the dark all alone.
And now you die alone!
Fuck it. It’s too good not to scream along to and I don’t care if it’s late. I’m screaming Night Surf in my office and I will apologize to no one!
This was a self released EP by Night Surf in 2017. I can’t remember exactly how I found it but I was hooked on it the first time I heard it. Since Blasted! was released in 2017, they have released 1 EP and 1 full length album. Blasted! is the perfect introduction to this Brooklyn based pop-punk band and is an album punk forgot.
