Sonny and the Sunsets - Hit After Hit

Fun and sunny (ha!) garage-pop from SF.

San Francisco really is the mecca of garage rock. More garage bands seem to come of that city than anywhere else. These bands range from gritty garage-punk like Thee Oh Sees (John Dywer is a "Sunset") to a more traditional AM radio sound like Sonny and the Sunsets. The later sound is typically cleaner-sounding, reverb-heavy and embraces lyrical themes that would not exactly upset your parents.

Now there are a lot of garage bands out there. What makes the genre so appealing is that the songs are simple, fun and easy to play. This also creates a whole slew of bands with little talent getting up there and having fun but not really writing any good songs (which is not such a bad thing).

Sonny Smith is a gifted song writer fortunately for us and does not suffer from this. The songs he has penned for this album are whole lot of fun and will really get you pumped for the summertime-funtimes ahead. The album has a good mix of the typical range of pop-songs that wouldn't be out of place in California in the 1960's (although they do have a modern edge to them). Highlights of the album are the opening track "She Plays YoYo With My Mind" which has a riff reminiscent to "Dirty Water" by The Standels. "Teen Age Thugs", another one of the "hits" is a dance-y number about war or soldiers or something.

I liked this album a lot, it's really fun and it's getting me psyched (ha!) for summer. Woo!

Similar: Thee Oh Sees, Jonathan Richman, Standells

Rating: 8.5

Fat Possum Records

Released: April 14th 2011

Mock Duck - Alters of Radness EP

Amazing-ly grungey punkrock.

Mock Duck is a two-piece outfit from L.A./Tokyo. I came across this in the blogospere. They have a punkrock vibe reminiscent of the late 80's/early 90's sound of the Pac NW. Mudhoney/Wipers really come to mind when I hear this. They also sound a bit like Boris' rock n' roll side (not so much the psyche side) which is obviously the Japanese connection.

This EP fucking rules. I'm really like it a lot. Download it for free from their Bandcamp page below. And may I say, more bands starting out should be putting their music out for free via Bandcamp. If you want to make some cash, release a cassette and sell it at your shows.

Similar: Boris, Mudhoney, Wipers

Rating: 9.5

Self-Released: April 1st 2011

Wizard Smoke - The Speed of Smoke

Blackened Stoner/Sludge/Doom with a dash of Psychedelic

Wizard Smoke (!) is a sludge band from Atlanta, which as we all know is a the unholiest mecca for this kind of shit. They describe their influences as "Satan, Weed and the Cosmos." In most cases I find band's self-descripitions kind of bunk, but these dudes got it spot-on. You can seriously hear all three influences here. Satan comes through the atmospheric black-metal style singing. The Weed had a big part in the writing of the droning, buzzing guitars and sludgy riffs (and the primo choice of band name). And the Cosmos had a hand letting the music get to whole new transcendental level, man...

This is some wicked shit. I love how the vocals are totally evil sounding and are paired with the wicked Sleep-style stoner metal. The opening track "Dead Wood" is a big highlight, as well as "Panama II" and "Witches Brew." One knock on the band is that although their sound is great, the overall songwriting and production could use some work as the album does drag in spots. This will surely develop if the band continues to keep it real.

Best thing is that they are offering the album for free on their website before it is released later this month so go and check it out and preorder the LP.

Download

Similar: Sleep, Black Sabbath, Zoroaster

Rating: 7.0

Self-Released

Release: April 30th, 2011