Crafted as one whole work of art that is meant to be consumed from beginning to end (with an accompanying 2-part album stream and visualizer to come), the debut album from The Lonely Suns (Southern California resident Dan Harris) is the culmination of a lifetime’s work.
It begins with the sound of the sun (yep, really), which bleeds into “Do It Again”, a down-and-dirty garage rock stomper that sets the tone for most of what’s to come.
Trashy guitar tones, splashy drums, distorted, impassioned vocals and impressive lead lines all blend together to make a marvellous noise. Lyrics like “well my Momma always told me, boy I’m gonna give you a clue / she said that happiness comes when you don’t let yourself get abused / and my Daddy he cursed and he fought, but he was honest enough / he said that trading your heart for your soul, boy, that’s no kinda love” hit hard and direct – this is not just rock music, it’s rock music with substance. That being said, as the first song segues into the second, it quickly becomes apparent that ‘Gimme Some More’ is all about shaking butts (for balance is essential). Sounding like a 21st Century Love Potion No. 9, it’s a track dedicated to dancing and the fine art of having a good time. It’s music made for getting up and getting down to. If you close your eyes, you can almost see beautiful, young, carefree people doing the swim to it.
This dissolves into the rocking Reckless, a revision of a song originally released a couple of years ago as a standalone single entitled Wreckless. This new version is slower and more deliberate and considered than the original, but no less endearing. This latest version struts like a panther in the dark, not unlike The Stooges did back in the day. It feels both sludgy and high-impact, and there are parts that are cacophonous yet carefully crafted. It’s a bit of a dichotomy in the best way possible. It ends with a round of applause (and rightly so) that takes us onto Wardlow Road. Track four is a funky, punky, rock n roll in the vein of Louie Louie that will have you singing/shouting “uhh-hurr” in time, ad nauseum. With eminently satisfying chord progressions and persistent keys throughout, it’s a party in your pocket. Or through your speakers. Or on your computer. Or whatever. Don’t sweat the details, just enjoy the vibe.
“You Never Know” is the album’s softest moment so far, marked by the introduction of an acoustic guitar and what sounds like a Hammond organ. It’s full of sing-along ramshackle charm and reminds us of some of the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s best work. The vocal layering is impeccable, and the pre-chorus “ohhh” motif is exceptionally infectious, tying the whole thing together beautifully. Special shout out to Dan’s daughter, Miss Fiona J Harris, who plays recorder on the track!
After a brief spoken word intro and a ferocious Ramones-style count-in, Glass Jaw begins the second “movement” of the album, and it’s a full-throttle audible assault from the outset all the way to its conclusion. It’s part The Sonics, part The Cramps, part Motorhead and entirely fantastic. It’s balls-to-the-wall, pedal to the metal, garage punk – with a feeling not too dissimilar to the early songs of The White Stripes. Similarly to Wreckless, this song was released previously as a separate entity. It was the track that first caught our attention. The new version retains all the buzzsaw guitars, pounding drums and raw charm and energy of the original, despite being undeniably better produced and clearly more carefully constructed.
This is followed by the recent single Watch The City Burn, which one media outlet likened to being “kicked in the face”. Which we think is brilliant and actually pretty accurate. We previously reviewed this track, which you can read about here. Suffice it to say, the energy is in the red on this one. It’s a full-on, passion-driven call to arms, and is particularly poignant in today’s world, especially when you consider where this music originates. With I Wanna Be You Dog-esque piano throughout the track and lines like “counting flowers on the wall”, Dan has peppered this track with reverential reference to the people who have paved the way before him. The song concludes with the sound of a helicopter, which effectively ties the previous song to the next one. The Letter is a song originally by The Box Tops from 1967 and would have been the soundtrack to America’s war in Vietnam. It’s particularly pertinent to The Lonely Sun’s because Dan’s Dad was stationed over there. During his time there, he would’ve been subjected to many horrors – from being shot to being poisoned and dealing with double malaria – and all the while this song played in the background. Dan’s version is faithful to the original but has an unmistakable Lonely Suns twist.
Be Mine Always follows next, and The Lonely Suns are joined on lead guitar by fellow Black Rainbow Collective member and gun for hire, Steve Hancock. His 50 years of experience on the fretboard shine brightly through and complement the outstanding, tender, doo-wop-inspired arrangement beautifully. The flourishes add another layer to the infectious tune that you will be humming for days. The subtle percussion and acoustic half-strums are charming enough on their own. Still, when you combine them with Dan’s heart-on-sleeve sentiment and innovative instrumentation (he played a skateboard and a bicycle bell on this song; yes, you read that correctly), then you’re really on to a winner. The song concludes with a bit of psychedelic, backwards guitar that transitions into the sound of crashing waves, leading us into the last song, “If But When.”
If But When is a return to the high-energy retro-vibe that dominated the first part of the album. The tones here are pure “Wipe Out”-with the gain turned way up. This surf-punk track would certainly fit nicely alongside classics like that, whilst also dragging them kicking and screaming through the decades to come.
The first album from the Black Rainbow Collective’s ever-expanding roster of phenomenal talent will be a hard act to follow. Still, it is an excellent introduction to the label and an exciting sign of things to come.
For a limited time, you can download it for free from The Lonely Suns Bandcamp, courtesy of Get Music.
Written by Kinda Grizzly
