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 the 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
Surfer Blood 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
Surfer Blood's plan is to ride out the hard times by sticking with the familiar,
Snowdonia reveals itself as some of their most ambitious and unpredictable music. As it teeters between ominous and poignant without ever losing its balance, "Six Flags in F or G" is particularly impressive. Unfortunately, not all of the band's risks are this successful. "Snowdonia"'s chiming pop is bloated by unnecessary tangents; "Instant Dopplegangers" has the bones of a driving psych-pop gem, but its meandering dilutes its impact; and "Taking Care of Eddy" spans noisy squalls, an Eastern-tinged melody, and surf-pop riffs that sound good in the moment but don't hold together. Sometimes, it sounds like
Surfer Blood don't know exactly what to do next -- which is understandable, considering the massive changes and losses they've experienced. However, there are enough promising moments on
Snowdonia to suggest that they'll figure it out.