Last Week’s Jams (8.14 – 8.18)

Okay, so I’m back in school and coaching women’s volleyball, which of course meant we couldn’t dare draw near the 40 or so tracks we covered the week prior. But, that being said, there were some really special tunes, and some of my favorites popping up in here. Blue Ocean and Seablite announced new LPs, while the Smashing Times dropped another stellar single to whet our appetites. Local favorites Single Lash and Sun June both announced new releases too, so it was a pretty solid week. Oh, and that Optic Sink jam was so good, we might have accidentally overlapped and posted it twice! Stream below!

Sonny and the Sunsets Share Androids Single

The opening thirty or so seconds of this new tune from Sonny & the Sunsets immediately had me hooked; I honestly let my mind drift to the Aussie scene a bit, as it has this heavy yearning attached to the jungle. When Sonny comes in, aided by softened backing vocals, the track begins to build on that vibe, adding a melodic resonance to it. At times, the tickling of the guitar strings hits exactly, doing a little playful jin inside your ear; it always feels like coming home, like “it’s alright.” Self Awareness Through Macrame is out on September 1st via Rocks in Your Head.

Last Week’s Jams (6.12 – 6.16)

Summer keeps on rolling right along like the hellfire that is Texas, and the song’s just keep hitting that sweet spot. Had some old acts make a return this past week with Devendra Banhart and Sigur Ros making the cut, but also excited to see old ATH Records act Being Dead with their banging new single. Along the way we had some hits from Night Beats, Dippers, Kindsight and Sonny & the Sunsets…to name but a few of the bands we can’t seem to stop covering on our end. A good little 20 song collection for you to kick off your day here!

Last Week’s Jams, Today (August 2 – 6)

Here we are amigos, welcoming you back to what is shaping up to be a really fun week. RayRay and I have to go back to our real jobs, officially, so there’s that. But, we wanted to reflect on last week, bringing you the hits of last week, only bringing them to you today. Most of the stuff we covered, or have covered, since we’re not apt to get to tons of reviews for individual albums, so I threw in a jam. Definitely got some good Austin coverage with new Half Dream, as well as a part Austin participation with Daphne Tunes on that new Central Heat Exchange track. You know, its not tough. Just press play, let the algorithm guide you.

Sonny & The Sunsets – Talent Night At The Ashram

sonnyRating: ★★★★☆

For years, Sonny Smith, with and without the Sunsets, has been turning out a ton of youthful and light tunes, incorporating aspects of whimsy into his odd indie rock music to create a genre all its own. Talent Night At The Ashram marks yet another album for Sonny and company, but this time around, a running thread of melancholy and seriousness runs through with the whimsy, creating an album exploring the relativity of normalcy.

The overall sound on Talent Night At The Ashram continues in classic Sonny & The Sunsets style: soft indie rock with a touch of whimsy, but elements on this album make it feel slightly like a stripped down approach to glam rock, a-la Ariel Pink, but with more subtlety and nuance. The guitars are twangy and distorted, there’s a heavy reliance on piano or synth riffs that runs through and under everything, and Sonny’s vocals seem as distant as ever. Opening “The Application,” gives you a brief insight into this transition, as the song meanders along, with Sonny opening with the lyrics “I filled out the application to be a human being,” underscored by a twee synth riff, creating a rosy sound that’s juxtaposed by the solemn lyrics Sonny spins. This is where the gravity of album lies, and it works well for the band.

Sonny continues his tradition of storytelling, as most of these tracks tell the tale of some, often titled woman and her thrills and spills in daily life. You get the obvious ones, like “Alice Leaves For The Mountains,” and “Icelene’s Loss,” in which the title characters are the main focus of the songs. As you delve deeper into the album, it seems that each song talks about matters of daily life. Take centerpiece and main attraction track “Happy Carrot Health Food Store,” which listens more like a multi-act play, with its distinctive movements. The first of which gives you classic Sonny, setting up the stage with exposition of this imaginary, or perhaps real, natural health food store that you enter “through a mystical door.” This opening brings the eclectic glam rock, with clip-clopping percussion and Sonny’s faded vocals. Then you transition to the next act, where the band really kicks in and you’re greeted with vast and detailed imagery of the characters that work there, and when the band launches into its wirey guitar chorus and following instrumental break down, you’re completely hooked into this weird little play. The ending acts gives you Sonny talking with a barking dog, which, oddly enough, feels like the only natural end to this exercise in the sometimes mundane, yet meaningful nature of daily life.

Talent Night At The Ashram walks the line of sincerity and irony with a smirk and a wink, and sometimes an outright grin. Admittedly, this album takes a little work to enjoy: the music is subtle and not overtly becoming on first listen, and I found myself needing a few spins around before I could really sink my teeth into the tracks. However, once I got on board, the album really opened up and revealed that Sonny & The Sunsets somehow still have a bit more up their sleeves to give to you. Spend some time with this record and get lost in its subtleties.

 

More Sonny & The Sunsets

unnamed

So we’ve already given you some hype over this new Sonny & The Sunsets album, Talent Night at the Ashram, that’s coming out February 17th via  Polyvinyl Records, but when Sonny Smith gives you another tasty track to jam to, it’s really hard not to share the love. The song below, “Happy Carrot Health Food Store,” is quite long, but by no means boring. Sonny & The Sunsets have seven minutes of quirky rock and roll for you in their classic style, which is anything but classic. Have a listen and get psyched for the new album which you can preorder right here.  

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/184932829″ params=”color=ff9900&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Even More New Music From Sonny & The Sunsets

1838Sonny Smith is a busy man in the music game, and he seems to work just about as hard as anyone physically can.  It’s also worth saying that we seem to gobble up everything he does and tend to enjoy each new release as they rack up year after year.  As previously mentioned, Sonny and his band the Sunsets have a new album entitled Antenna to the Afterworld dropping on June 11th via Polyvinyl Records.  Prior to that release, we’ve got another new preview of the album in the form of new song “Green Blood”.  It sort of sounds like something straight of the 80s with a new wave sound clear throughout the song.  Alien love is sweet.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/75240475″ params=”color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

New Jam From Sonny & The Sunsets

We were sort of holding off until we could get the go ahead to post an MP3 of this new Sonny & The Sunsets tune, and today is that lucky day.  The new song, possibly heard elsewhere as a stream, is a mellow slow-burning tune called “Pretend You Love Me”.  This one is a bit more of a contemplative jam from the band compared to what we’ve seen in the past, but I dig it none the less.  Be sure to keep your eyes tuned toward the June 26th release date of the new LP Longtime Companion coming via the band’s new label Polyvinyl Records.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/04_Pretend_You_Love_Me.mp3]

Download: Sonny & The Sunsets – Pretend You Love Me [MP3]

Sonny & the Sunsets – Tomorrow is Alright

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Sonny & the Sunsets actually released this album quite some time ago, almost two years, from the word on the streets, but it’s really just seeing the light of day for the masses right now.  Despite that this is a re-release, this will be the first time any of us encounter Sonny Smith and friends.  Tomorrow is Alright offers us a glimpse into the past of the band, and where we can reasonably expect them to head in the future.

This might be just one man’s opinion here, but you’re going to be hard pressed to find a stripped down number this year as good as “Too Young to Burn.”  Sonny’s vocal affect is warm and friendly, like your older brother’s band is just having a nice little jam in your backyard.  And that chorus, man that chorus is just ridiculous.  Some will tell you that the whole affair peaks right here, but rest assured, there are many more solid moments to come, though this could go down as the best.

“Strange Love” operates in a different world altogether.  A barroom piano, and some acapella moments for accompaniment provide the track with a bit of country-western jangle.  It’s something that allows the listener to get into the spirit of the whole album, which seems fueled more by whiskey in dive bars than California sun.  You’ll also find yourself getting into “Planet of Women,” especially with the male/female vocal interplay that goes on between the lyrics.  It’s hard to see how a song that sounds so simple can be so elating.  There’s a bit of a wink and a smile in the songwriting process, and you’ll break into a grin when you hit the lyric “queen I like it like that.”  Special moment.

Other reviews have sort of dismissed the lackluster approach that appears throughout Tomorrow is Alright. Oddly, though the band take their time to warm you up to songs like “Stranded,” the power of such songs succeeds precisely for that approach.  The band isn’t rushing into anything here, not trying to be overly convincing for their audience.  But, in doing so, you will find Sonny & the Sunsets every bit as endearing as your favorite artists, simply because there is no pretense to the craftsmanship of the tunes; they just want to play for you.  Even as they seem to kind of half-ass it, they give you tracks like “Chapters,” which boils down to little more than a nice little stomp, and mentions of various chapters.  You might not be sure why you love it, but damn if it’s not enjoyable.

You’ll find a band doing their own thing when you come to the album’s closer, “Lovin on an Older Gal.”  A twangy little jam until the very end, but one that exudes confidence in the best way, showing that the band is indifferent to praise here and there, they just want to give you some great tracks to enjoy while you’re sitting around the house.  Tomorrow is Alright probably won’t wow too many listeners around the globe, but that doesn’t ever seem to be the point.  You want good songwriting that you can share with all your friends?  Then check out this re-release by Sonny & the Sunsets.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/01-Too-Young-to-Burn.mp3]

Download: Sonny and the Sunsets – Too Young to Burn [MP3]

Social Media Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com