With a Zappa-ish burst of noise, the new Sunwatchers album kicks off. Music is Victory Over Time drops on Trouble in Mind Records on Friday, and it's as energetic a release as you'll likely find this season. Is that at all a surprise? Likely not.
After the rush of "World People", the players drive things forward with "Too Gary", another sqauwky, surging gem. There's nearly a race here, as if things were collapsing around the band, with Jim McHugh's guitar circling the melody, even as Jeff Tobias keeps things focused with an insistent keyboard-line. On that one and "T.A.S.C." drummer Jason Robira and bassist Peter Kerlin give the explorations heft, but it's McHugh's guitar-squall that seems to be driving those numbers, with sax from Tobias punctuating the noise. On the longer, lighter "Foams", things go in other directions. There's chunky guitar, supple bass, and plaintive keys. The number is entirely different in tone and style than the first two on Music is Victory Over Time suggesting less musical schizophrenia on Sunwatchers' part, and more confidence in their chops to actually pull this all off.
What I love about this band is that they gleefully blaze through genre labels. There's bits that are fusion-y, bits that are rooted in late Sixties jazz, bits that are nearly punk-y, but overall there's a consistent sense that these players are exploring new territory as they see fit. Music is Victory Over Time feels like an album that's easy to love, but that's just me. There's unlikely going to be a hit alt-rock single here, but these musicians are very much of the same mindset of the biggies I listened to in my formative years (Beefheart, Pere Ubu, Tom Waits' classic line-ups). This is brash, yet joyful music, alive with the possibilities of both the genres being burned through, and something else. More than before, Sunwatchers have crafted their own genre here with their newest record.
Music is Victory Over Time by Sunwatchers is out on Friday via Trouble in Mind. Details below too.
[Photo: Peter Kerlin]