Rarely has a band lived up to their name as much as Surf Party, USA. Duo Ben Weinman (Bones Forever, Boys Go To Jupiter) and Nate Hollander (Boots Deatherage, One Hour Photo) “draw on their childhoods in California to create a sun-baked, salt-encrusted sound,” as we put it in a preview of recent single ‘Barrel’, the first taste of a new album coming next month. As the band themselves put it, the project allows them to “write humorously and to touch on themes they likely wouldn’t in their more ‘serious’ endeavors—joy, friendship, peace, drinking beer, and, of course, surfing.”
If ‘Barrel’ provided all the fun and chaotic energy of the Surf Party, USA name, then new single ‘Umbrella’ offers a different dimension to the band. A more downbeat, reflective mood crafted from acoustic guitars and restrained sax which hints at the things the surfing life aims to escape. “I am a lonely feller,” as the song opens. “I sit under my umbrella / where the sun won’t shine, I’m trapped inside my mind / but safe under my umbrella.” The party might not be over, but the sun is dipping below the horizon and the tide going out, and all that’s left to do if wait and watch from the sand in hope of a better day.