For The Record- 19. October. 2024

There's a million ways to get things done. There's a million ways to make things work out.

Welcome to another edition of For The Record, the weekly newsletter that brings the world of music news straight to your inbox. Part essay, part good old-fashioned link drop, For The Record is a benefit for paid supporters of On Repeat. This project is 100% reader-funded. You can back independent ad-free music journalism for less than $1 a week.

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KA~

Opening bands rarely get a fair shake. I was thinking about that as I watched New Zealand’s Office Dog earnestly work their way through a set last week. The audience was polite, but most were clearly marking time for who they’d really paid to see: Nada Surf.

If I’m honest, they didn't sound all that great either, but I’ll get back to that.

Looking around the hall, I was surprised at the demographics. Nada Surf has been around for almost 30 years, first bursting into the scene in 1996 with their hit “Popular.” They then followed it with a follow-up LP, The Proximity Effect, which, for whatever reason, wasn't the right record at the right time and never even had a chance to get onto people’s radar. Rather than being consigned to/defined by one-hit wonder status, they just spent the next couple of decades making some of the most consistent power pop records around.