Astro Coast, the debut record from Floridian quintet Surfer Blood, is far more accomplished and assured than any debut has the right to be. The album features an eclectic mix of various styles and moods, but remarkably all of them work well within the loose confines of the band’s wide-ranging approach, coalescing impressively to form one of the better first efforts in recent memory. There are easily recognizable elements threaded throughout the album where it’s clear that the young musicians are taking some inspiration from rather distinguished bands: whether in the slacker sensationalism of Pavement, the hushed lyricism of James Mercer, or the over the top anthemic choruses of early Weezer. But rather than simply providing a rehash of tired or overdone genres, Surfer Blood inject these ten songs with a vibrant spirit and a youthful exuberance that combine to form a potent cocktail of catchiness and creativity.

The record gets off to a strong start with the leisurely swagger of the perfectly titled ‘Floating Vibes,’ which brings to mind a modern day Beach Boys on stronger drugs with an acerbic contemporary attitude. It seems to emanate a feeling of a sunny day spent ocean-side, and makes for a perfect top-down driving song. The album’s irresistible first single, ‘Swim,’ keeps the momentum going, with singer John Paul Pitts’ anthemic call to keep going until you reach whatever goal you’ve set in front of you. And if Surfer Blood’s intention was to get the music communities attention with this song (and subsequently this record), they’ve certainly got it. It’s refreshing that, with Astro Coast, the band not only backs up the promise of this stellar song, but they build on it, crafting an entire album filled with spirited, stylish tracks.

‘Take It Easy,’ echoes the African rhythms that Vampire Weekend have been mining for years, just giving the well worn template a fresh facelift, in addition to more spunk and conviction in the delivery. ‘Harmonix’ and ‘Neighbour Riffs’ both settle into mesmerizing grooves, with the later instrumental being quite reminiscent of the driving insistence of Fugazi. As the album plays out, it becomes quite clear that it’s impossible to pin Surfer Blood’s sound down to any one distinct style or direction, with the band switching things up exuberantly on each track, fully executing each transition seamlessly and soundly. So ‘Twin Peaks’ initially has an amped up Shins approach to it, with Pitts’ clever ruminations about watching the venerable David Lynch series on his girlfriend’s couch in Syracuse, before the band releases the tension of the track on a very Weezer-esque chorus. That tenuous combination shouldn’t work this well, but it does due to the daring and confidence of this young band and their boundless inventiveness.

The ‘Fast Jabroni’-‘Slow Jabroni’ brace is a nice study in how a theme and melody can be twisted in two directions, as both songs deliver on their nondescript titles, with the slow version lagging a bit until the inspired last two and half minutes of the song, where the band hits on the most indelible melody and moving set of lyrics found on the record. It makes sludging through the rather monotonous beginning of the track entirely worth it, and really forms a high point of the album. After taking a slight wrong-turn on ‘Anchorage,’ things close out with the somber psychedelia of ‘Catholic Pagans,’ which finds the band experimenting with one last genre before they turn out the lights for the night. Astro Blood is a good time record that still manages to take its craft seriously, filled with many imaginative (and recognizable) sounds delivered by a young group that has seemingly endless inspiration and influences. It bristles with the conviction that only youth brings, and it heralds the arrival of Surfer Blood as yet another in a growing line of innovative American bands that the music world will have to reckon with as they try and rewrite the rules of rock ‘n roll yet again.