Surfing Pointers – Surfing Pointers (2024)
Surfing Pointers is a psyche and shoe-gaze garage band from Manchester, England, who have just released an EP on BirthDIY Records, and these four songs have been a long-time-coming. Formed in 2019, the band didn’t waste time putting their sound to tape. The four tracks featured on this eponymous release were recorded between 2019 and 2020. They used Covid-19 as a time to hunker down and work on their material, both for Surfing Pointers and for their dream-pop project Atmos.
The four piece band features Curtis Paterson on guitar and vocals, Andrew Beswick on guitar, Callum Tough on drums, and Tilda Gratton on bass and vocals. Gratton brings a nice addition to the band particularly as a vocalist. Her on-pitch singing provides a needed counterpoint to Paterson’s low timbre and tendency to slide off the pitch. At its best the vocal combination sees a vague blueprint in vocalists Jacqui McShee and Bert Jansch of Pentangle, in principle if not in execution. At worst, it clashes.
‘In the End’ opens the album softly and then becomes a little less so as the guitars pick up some gain. ‘Far Out’ does much the same thing a little faster clip. It’s the standout of the album in terms of tempo, having a nice build in the middle of the number, and the fact that it stops for a breather periodically keeping the audience guessing about when it will actually end. ‘S.Y. Song’ is the EP’s instrumental but doesn’t differ much in terms of feel from the rest of the numbers, although the lack of vocals gives it a somewhat lighter feeling. The final number, ‘Losing Contact’ is probably the least effective of the album and definitely the one where the vocals are the most distracting.
If ever there was a band worthy of its genre label, it’s Surfing Pointers. Heavily influenced by Further and Tomorrows Tulips, Surfing Pointers takes it easy through the length and breadth of the EP. Their whole aesthetic mumbles garage rock and for those who are into it, they hit the vibe, but for those who aren’t, they leave a lot to be desired. From the outside looking in, the EP is a case of aesthetic detracting from substance. On paper, these are good songs, and the band has a lot of good elements to work with, but the need to keep it all behind the garage door makes the EP feel like a squandered opportunity.
Find out more about Surfing Pointers on their Spotify.
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