We have just added a new category on the Dead Format blog, AbsEss. AbsEss is short for Absolutely Essential and will feature albums that we think that everyone should own. If you have an album you think needs to be in AbsEss, let us know, we might just post it. My first contribution is Nada Surf’s “Let Go”.

I first heard “Let Go” at a party. Chris Fogal, formerly of the Gamits, put it on and said, you have to listen to this album. From the very first second, I was sold. The record rocks, has hooks, and has that special ingredient you can’t pinpoint, but makes you long to hear the record again. I immediately bought the CD at my local mom and pop record store, Wax Trax, and have listened to this album more than any album I have ever listened to.

I can say without hesitation that Nada Surf is my all-time favorite band. This album hooked me and I now celebrate their entire catalog with the exception of their one-hit wonder album “High/Low” which features their super hit “Popular”. Everything else is top-notch, but I recommend starting with this album. It just starts off so beautifully and is the kind of record that is essential on a road trip. I have put it on with friends and have had every single person in the car singing along.

This album makes you wonder why Nada Surf are not dominating the radio airwaves while so many gimmicky bands are. My son was actually born to the song “Inside of Love” which happened to make my wife’s birth mix which she named “Labor Jams”. I couldn’t have picked a more perfect song for my son’s first song.

If you don’t own this album, stop what you are doing and buy it now. I use this album as a measure of whether or not someone has good taste in music and would seriously reconsider my friendships if I had a friend who did not also love this album!