Snowdonia in Bloomington, MN

To say
Surfer Blood
had a difficult time after the release of
1000 Palms
would be an understatement: Not long after bassist
Kevin Williams
left group, guitarist
Thomas Fekete
died from the rare, aggressive form of cancer he'd been battling since 2015. On top of that,
John Paul Pitts
' mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Snowdonia
finds the band rebuilding in the wake of all this upheaval. The album opens with a batch of songs that look to the band's past strengths: "Matter of Time" is the kind of bouncy pop song that
has excelled at since
Astro Coast
, while the backing harmonies on "Frozen" and the sprightly guitars on "Dino Jay" respectively make the most of new bassist/vocalist
Lindsey Mills
and guitarist
Mike McCleary
's skills. But just when it seems like
's plan is to ride out the hard times by sticking with the familiar,
reveals itself as some of their most ambitious and unpredictable music. "Six Flags in F or G" is particularly impressive as it teeters between ominous and poignant without ever losing its balance. ~ Heather Phares