Sonny and the Sunsets: Tomorrow Is Alright

Artist: Sonny and the SunsetsTitle: Tomorrow Is AlrightRelease date: August 31Label: Fat PossumFrom the Best Coast school of stoner pop comes Sonny and the Sunsets, a California band with a pop sound so casual that it feels almost tossed off. The beauty in Sonny and the Sunsets' music is its...

By Jay Bennett

August 31, 2010

Audio By Carbonatix

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Artist: Sonny and the Sunsets

Title: Tomorrow Is Alright

Release date: August 31

Label: Fat Possum

From the Best Coast school of stoner pop comes Sonny and the Sunsets, a California band with a pop sound so casual that it feels almost tossed off. The beauty in Sonny and the Sunsets' music is its effortlessness. You can picture someone in the band calling his mates and saying, "Hey, do you guys wanna make a record today?"

If the Modern Lovers were from California, they might have sounded a little like Sonny and the Sunsets. The band's pop sensibilities and the singer's droll delivery (think: a stoned, Gen Y version of Jonathan Richman) belie the darkly humorous lyrical content.

The 10 songs on Tomorrow Is Alright are alternately stellar and somewhat necessarily. In other words, there's a great EP in here somewhere. But you get the feeling they don't care if you don't like half the songs.

Sonny and the gang save the best for last with a chugging nod to the Velvet Underground called "Lovin' on an Older Gal." See, these guys can't even be bothered to hang a "g" on their gerunds.

Sonny And The Sunsets - Too young to burn
Best song: "Lovin' on an Older Gal"
Rotation: Medium-high
Deja vu: A sleepier Wavves.
I'd rather listen to: The Modern Lovers' debut record, of course
Grade: B

"Nothing Not New" is a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 41-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Each Monday through Friday, he will listen to one new record (no best ofs, reissues, or concert recordings) and write about it. Why? Because in the words of his editor, Martin Cizmar, he suffers from "aesthetic atrophy," a wasting away of one's ability to embrace new and different music as one ages. Read more about this all-too-common ailment here.

The "Nothing Not New" Archives

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August 24 -- Nothing Not New: Podcast #9 (A+++)

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August 12 -- Jimmy Eat World: Invented (C-)

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June 29 -- Scissor Sisters: Night Work (B+)

June 24 -- Foals: Total Life Forever (D+)

June 23 -- Pernice Brothers: Goodbye, Killer (A-)

June 22 -- The Roots: How I Got Over (B+)

June 21 -- Danzig: Deth Red Sabaoth (D)

June 18 -- The Chemical Brothers: Further (B+)

June 17 -- Eyes Set to Kill: Broken Frames (C)

June 16 -- Devo: Something for Everybody (B+)

June 15 -- The Gaslight Anthem: American Slang (C-)

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June 3 -- Crystal Castles: Crystal Castles II (B-)

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May 27 -- What Cheer? Brigade: We Blow You Suck (D)

May 26 -- Stone Tempe Pilots: Stone Temple Pilots (C)

May 25 -- Karen Elson: The Ghost Who Walks (C+)

May 24 -- Damien Jurado: Saint Bartlett (B)

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May 19 -- Sleigh Bells: Treats (D-)

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May 10 -- The National: High Violet (B+)

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May 4 -- The New Pornographers: Together (B-)

May 3 -- The Hold Steady: Heaven Is Whenever (A-)

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April 28 -- Odds 'n' Sods: Toro y Moi, Merle Haggard, Freedy Johnston, and more

April 27 -- Unnatural Helpers: Cracked Love & Other Drugs (B+)

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April 19 -- Cornershop: Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast (C)

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April 15 -- Coheed and Cambria: Year of the Black Rainbow (D-)

April 14 -- Foxy Shazam: Foxy Shazam (D, later changed to a B)

April 13 -- MGMT: Congratulations (B+)

April 12 -- Odds 'n' Sods: Robyn Hitchcock, RJD2, Scorpions, and More

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