By Jake Gillen
I chose to review Surrogate’s Post-Heroic for a couple of reasons: One, my auntie went to Chico State University here in California (and she even graduated!), and two, I am from California (although that top half and this bottom half might as well be different planets, they are so different).
And actually, there is a 3rd reason: The submission for review to Echoes and Dust had a photograph of the band attached, and Daniel (bass, beverages and drums) referred to himself as ‘the bearded creep at the far right’ of the photo. Do you know how many times I have been called, or called myself, a bearded creep? Sympatico, man, totally sympatico.
Based on all the above factors, I hopped on over to Surrogate’s Bandcamp page and fired up ‘Post-Heroic’, the band’s 4th studio record according to their bio (which I found helpful more than once while writing this).
The bio explains that Surrogate is a slimmed-down quartet these days, and that each member of the band took turns on the drum kit. Since I’m not familiar with the band, and just started listening to them, like, yesterday, I want to know this: How many members were there before and what happened to them? No, I really don’t want to know, because from what I’ve heard so far, four is more than enough to make a pretty damn good Indie pop record. To have made the album from ‘pretty deep in the college ghetto [here in Chico]’, well, that’s bonus goodness!
First Impressions: There is an interesting density to the guitars, overlaying the synth (sounds like an old Casio from the 80s!). Vocally, it’s a good mix of a slightly nasally Beach Boys (especially on the eponymous second track) and Band of Horses, both gold stars for me. As with many good records, there is nothing groundbreaking here, but the arrangements are tight and the melodies are interesting.
One thing in the minus column is that in their bio, they mention Nada Surf as an influence, and I have a personal bias against their one song (‘Popular’) that ever got any airplay here in San Diego (on one of our many ‘alternative’ radio stations). Admittedly, this is thin and flimsy, but I have so be critical at some point, otherwise I just sound like a fanboy.
The only other thing that I can’t say I really love about ‘Post-Heroic’ is the sometimes-overpowering cymbals. At first, I thought it might be the recording or the fact that I was streaming the album while listening that made them so prominent in the sonic-sphere. Then, I figured it was my shitty work headphones (I mostly listen to music at work on shitty headphones), but alas, there is just a little too much cymbal for me a few times.
Surrogate are pretty versatile, running the gamut from the jaunty Nerd-Indie of ‘Blank Page’ and ‘Belongings’, to the ethereally dreamy (ala Miracle Legion or Death Cab) of ‘Accolades’. There’s even a slightly tougher, bluesy number called ‘Battleground, Washington’, which is one of my favourites thus far; This might be because it reminds me a bit of one of my perennial favourite bands, Dredg, in a couple of spots.
The jangly, twangy Americana of ‘Lovers’ sort of belies the lyrical content - sounds a lot to me like a story of the odyssey from new love to established love, to routine and all the good and bad and indifferent that comes with that. This track has some good, catchy guitar riffing on it, with an almost banjo feel to it.
The rest of the album’s tracks are equally good and interesting, with more of the same varied and diverse styles and influences, and there’s something for everyone on ‘Post-Heroic’ - Shoegaze, folk-pop, Hammond organ - and I am really happy that I stepped out of my Post-rock, Post-Punk, Post-prog preference bubble and picked this album to review. It’s a refreshing listen for the most part, and aside from stuff that I already mentioned, there is nothing on this record that I don’t consider pretty good. You can find it on Bandcamp, and even on that one music site that infamously pays shit to the artists, the one beginning with ‘s’ and ending with ‘otify’.
Step outside your own box, if you have one, and give Surrogate’s Post-Heroic a listen!
