By Surprise strip things down to record a Switchboard Session via telephone (playing The Fire on 6/28)

South Jersey punks By Surprise make it their goal to play for fun over progress.  The group rarely performs live shows, and have been gradually releasing music over the last seven years (recently on Topshelf Records).  Yesterday, Switchboard Sessions released some acoustic songs they recorded with the band over a telephone.  The acoustic versions of the songs from the group’s EP Criteria really show By Surprise in a new light.  Instead of drums, bass guitar and vocals, this set is a fuzzy mix of just two acoustic guitars and vocals.  But what the songs lose in electrified energy, the band regains with raw sound of just words and simple acoustic riffs.  The four songs seems to take on a Daniel Johnston honesty in this session.  Check out a few of the songs below and download the full session from Switchboard, and catch a rare appearance from the band at The Fire ]on June 28th.