Nada Surf

From Helicopter to Elektra

Matthew Caws and Daniel Lorca formed the band in New York in 1992 as Helicopter and renamed it Nada Surf; Caws described the name as just surfing on nothing. They met at the Lycee Francais de New York and both spent part of their childhoods in France and Belgium. Earlier bands included the Cost of Living and Because Because Because. A 1994 7-inch, "The Plan" and "Telescope", and the demo Tafkans came first, and Ira Elliot replaced Aaron Conte on drums in 1995. High/Low (Elektra, June 18, 1996) was produced by Ric Ocasek and recorded in 19 days; its single "Popular" reached 51 in the US, 10 in France and 13 in Sweden, and went gold in France.

Elektra dropped them in 1998 after the band rejected label requests for singles and an acoustic "Popular". The Proximity Effect, produced by Fred Maher, came out in Europe in 1998 and in the US in 2000. From 1999 to 2002 the members held day jobs, Caws at the Brooklyn record store Earwax and Elliot doing session work. Let Go (2002), produced by Louie Lino and Chris Fudurich, brought them back, and The Weight Is a Gift followed on Barsuk on September 20, 2005, then Lucky (2008), If I Had a Hi-Fi (2010, covers), The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy (2012), You Know Who You Are (March 4, 2016), Never Not Together (February 7, 2020) and Moon Mirror (September 13, 2024). Standing at the Gates (2018) was a charity album of covers of Let Go. In 2024 "In Front of Me Now" reached 37 on Billboard's Adult Alternative Airplay chart, called their first US chart hit in 28 years.

Wikipedia groups them with the nerd rock revival of Weezer, Superdrag and Cake. Caws told Metro Weekly in 2022 that "Blankest Year" is the usual closer.