Getting to see them live had proved to be frustrating. These New Yorkers are relentless tourists but the UK seemed to be off their radar, unlike mainland Europe and the US. So I was on it like a shot when they announced a date in Manchester on the back of their latest album, the wordy (for them) 'The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy'. On record, they are like a blood transfusion - an intravenous shot of aural anti-coagulant. Listen to 'Hi Speed Soul' or 'Whose Authority' and I defy you not to be swept away by their warm wind of optimism.
The smaller top room at the Manchester Academy was full-ish but demonstrated the fact that Nada Surf are still under most people's radar. The lack of a big hit or movie/ advert soundtrack has kept the band nicely niche. I was surprised to learn how old they are - all easily into their 40s. Matthew Caws, the frontman and main songwriter, seems disarmingly ordinary as he fumbles with his guitar strap. This is their first date for a good while - the start of a world tour - but instead of it being shambolic and disorganised, the between-song delays help build the audience rapport (most are confirmed fans anyway)- this appears to be a band without ego. As each song quickly discovers its relentless groove it's as though a switch has been tripped and a seamless energy flows, the telepathy developed over the years shifts into gear and they're off.
Daniel Lorca on bass is a revelation. Low slung, almost scraping the floor, he adds the propulsion and the urgency - they play so fast that I'm reminded of the early punk bands and the frenetic race to reach the end of the song as quickly as possible. Caws is no Dylan but at times - such as the sophisticated reflections on mortality in 'See These Bones' - he pauses the band for thought and depth emerges. The new LP deals with big issues, it just so happens that they are cloaked in choruses and major key chord modulations that invoke euphoria, palpably the best of both worlds.
The gig flies past. Doug Gillard (Guided By Voices) on extra guitar adds a heft to the trio's ferocious muscularity - it's great to see this understated icon of 90s American indie peeling off the scatter-gun solos.
There is an effortless connection with the audience. Caws continually beams at the front rows going mental.
The wistful 'Paper Boats' is the cue for a pleasingly in tune accompaniment from, it seems, every female in the room. A looming curfew causes a frenetic dash for the end, they cram in the 'hits' - 'Happy Kid', 'Killian's Red', 'Blankest Year.'
It puzzles me how such a radio friendly, open-hearted power pop band can remain so relatively obscure. Far more will be familiar with Death Cab For Cutie and Fountains Of Wayne - literate, indie, Pixies-inspired groups who made their names on the same US college radio circuit. Nada Surf seem happy and secure about it. On this showing they have nothing to prove - a band that doesn't need to re-invent itself. Keep it high energy, keep it simple and just take everyone along for the ride.
