On May 1, 2020 Surfer Blood will release Carefree Theatre, their fifth studio album, and a return to their first label Kanine Records. Written and recorded in South Florida, its the first record the band has released since John Paul Pitts, the singer and main songwriter moved back to the state. It’s an album not as much looking back as coming full-circle.

The Carefree Theatre in West Palm Beach, FL was the only venue in town for most of the band’s childhood; its where kids would go for everything from touring punk bands to community theater productions. It was the kind of experience that would expose a twenty-one year old songwriter to a world outside of Florida, and inspire him to start a band and tour the country.

It was a leap of faith the band took in 2010 with the release of Astro Coast, the band’s celebrated debut. Surfer Blood’s rise was remarkable, from rehearsing in a Florida storage container to mainstage at Coachella and touring with the Pixies. Then after an all-too-commonplace major label disaster, the band rebounded quietly, putting out two adventurous albums and consistently touring the world for over a decade.

It’s the kind of resilience and hard-work that’s admirable in our disposable age, and it looks like the band’s output won’t be slowing down anytime soon: ten years, four full-length records, and a few lineup changes later, the band has re-centered itself with its tightest and most focused songs in years.

Surfer Blood

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Carefree Theatre

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