Moon Mirror

This album has been added to 1 private list and 2 public lists:

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  Favourite Albums of 2024

  Benjamin Clausen

  Another of my favourite albums from 2024, This Nada Surf release has a few excellent power pop bangers!

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  2024 Top 20

  Adam Wood

  This is a difficult one to explain. On the surface, there’s no good reason why I shouldn’t already be a fan of Nada Surf. The band have been putting out records since the mid 90s, and operating firmly within sub-genre circles of which I am fond (and could formerly have been considered a devotee). My best guess is that Nada Surf’s longevity actually worked against my getting to know them. Back in the days when one’s exposure to new music depended primarily on the contents of friends’ CD collection, I don’t think I knew anyone who owned either of the band’s first two LPs. Album number three (consensus career highlight Let Go) broke through a bit in 2002, to the extent that I recall a friend of a friend owning it. And yet…

  Consider some of what I was listening to around that time: Jimmy Eat World, The Shins, Death Cab for Cutie. All of these supplicants at the foot of REM’s throne belong more-or-less within the sound world of Nada Surf: mid-tempo alt/indie, clean guitar sounds, literate lyricism. Here on Moon Mirror we’re treated to a strong set of polished, emotionally-driven (admittedly MOR) rock. Nothing novel, but when it’s executed this well it’s a sound that still works its magic on me. As with Spoon in 2014, Low in 2018, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra last year, falling under the spell of Moon Mirror felt like discovering a little late a band that I probably should have been paying attention to for decades.