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| With a timeless sound that both modern and nostalgic, Son of the Sun combines classic, Beatles-esque melodies with distorted, reverberated guitar layers that recall the likes of Brian Jonestown Massacre and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. For the most part, the songs that comprise The Happy Loss stand well on their own and are ambitious on their own terms: concisely arranged and driven by simple, attractive chord progressions, yet still stylistically elusive, often culminating in a chaotic, polyphonic crescendo of sound. Another consistent element that pervades The Happy Loss is lead vocalist Zak Ward's reverb-soaked, impassioned vocals, which channels The Black Keys in terms of timbre and lends the music an unpretentious air of raw emotion. His contemplative lyrical style draws upon themes universal enough to make them instantly relatable, such as loss, deceit and learning to make the most of an unfavorable situation - reflected in the album's title. Some of most captivating tracks include the bouncy garage-rock of "Get Together," raucous rocker "The Franklin," which recalls the sparse piano-guitar interplay of Spoon, and opener "The Good Ole Days," which begins with drumbeat a la Gary Glitter's "Rock & Roll, Pt. 2" but dispels that similarity with its psychedelic-shoegaze guitars. Of the mellower material, "How Can It Be?" stands as Son of the Sun's strongest ballad, sporting doo-wop vocal hooks replete with airy, celestial harmonies. "April Fools" rides on its gorgeous slide work married to an appropriately slow, somber musical framework. (I Blame Yoko Music) http://www.myspace.com/sonofthesunmusic  | |||
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Performer Magazine Reviews 'The Happy Loss' October 2010 Issue
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Innocent Words Review - 8/22/10
By: Greg Walker
Son of the Sun’s debut album, The Happy Loss, is a beautifully melodic, yet heartbreakingly gorgeous piece of work. This is the type of moody rock that can waver in and out as you sit around and relax on a gorgeous summer’s night. Listening to the album, it is obvious that these tracks are all expertly crafted by this Buffalo, NY, group. Son of the Sun have an excellent tendency to produce melodic tracks that still remain highly reminiscent of garage psychedelia from years past. Some of the tracks on The Happy Loss would fit right in with a Nuggets release.
Album standout, “The Other Side,” is a haunting bit of rock supported by multiple harmonies and guitars that echo in and out as lead singer Zak Ward recalls a recent breakup. The Happy Loss is filled with a few mid-tempo numbers, such as “The Other Side” with others like the moody “How Can it Be?” and the beautiful outro “Tell Me.”
Son of the Sun is not shy to turn things up a bit every now and then on The Happy Loss as demonstrated by rockier tracks such as “Stay the Same” a true garage rock throwback and “The Good Ole Days” a tough-spirited classic rock track.
The Happy Loss is an exciting debut album from Son of the Sun and one that deserves to be taken together as a whole. It isn’t too often that an album dealing with a loss ends up being this enjoyable. The Son of the Sun’s loss is our gain.
Son of the Sun
The Happy Loss
(I Blame Yoko Music)
Son of the Sun’s debut album, The Happy Loss, is a beautifully melodic, yet heartbreakingly gorgeous piece of work. This is the type of moody rock that can waver in and out as you sit around and relax on a gorgeous summer’s night. Listening to the album, it is obvious that these tracks are all expertly crafted by this Buffalo, NY, group. Son of the Sun have an excellent tendency to produce melodic tracks that still remain highly reminiscent of garage psychedelia from years past. Some of the tracks on The Happy Loss would fit right in with a Nuggets release.
Album standout, “The Other Side,” is a haunting bit of rock supported by multiple harmonies and guitars that echo in and out as lead singer Zak Ward recalls a recent breakup. The Happy Loss is filled with a few mid-tempo numbers, such as “The Other Side” with others like the moody “How Can it Be?” and the beautiful outro “Tell Me.”
Son of the Sun is not shy to turn things up a bit every now and then on The Happy Loss as demonstrated by rockier tracks such as “Stay the Same” a true garage rock throwback and “The Good Ole Days” a tough-spirited classic rock track.
The Happy Loss is an exciting debut album from Son of the Sun and one that deserves to be taken together as a whole. It isn’t too often that an album dealing with a loss ends up being this enjoyable. The Son of the Sun’s loss is our gain.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Ryan's Smashing Life ---- 'The Happy Loss' Review
Rock n Roll Sunshine
New Music this Week!
Someone You Should Know
One to Watch 2010: sick new sounds out of Buffalo, NY
EXCITING NEW MUSIC - Rolling into Boston sometime over the next few hours for the inevitable music bedlam that accompanies great rock bands on the rise, Buffalo's Son of the Sun are someone you should get to know. My immediate thought on listening to the band is that their a cross of two of my all-time favorite bands: Band of Skulls (the amazing new British atmospheric rock trio I have fallen for in a very big way the last 12 months) and the semi-retired Greenhornes (whose percussion and base were stolen by Jack White and Brendan Benson to form The Raconteurs.
As is the case with many musically familiar modern bands, the players from The Raconteurs and The Greenhornes dipped from the well of bands like The Animals and The Zombies and The Kinks. .So there is a clear British Invasion element here (which I have found, historically, irresistible - if done well) but I digress. Son of the Sun have a brand new album and it falls into the familiar, loving recesses of this listener's mind.
The Happy Loss (to which you are listening as you read these words) was co-produced by Mike Brown and the band. It was recorded in part at Temperamental Recordings in Geneseo, NY and mixed by Alan Weatherhead (Sparklehorse, Camper Van Beethoven, Cracker) at Sound of Music Recording Studios in Richmond, VA.
Son of the Sun
Somerville, MA
Saturday 7/10/10
Saturday 7/10/10
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
FensePost.com Music Blog Review
6 JULY 2010 WRITTEN BY RON TREMBATH
http://www.fensepost.com/main/2010/07/06/son-of-the-sun-the-happy-loss-album-review/
Do you have an itch in your neck for some old-school-influenced, void filling, and harmony driven rock and roll? Are you looking to show your father some “new shit” that he might very well approve of? Well, look no further than Son of the Sun’s debut full length album The Happy Loss. Joseph Stocker and Zak Ward, masterminds behind the operation, have a strange sensibility to themselves when it comes to creating the constantly sought “wall of sound” that so many musicians strive to create.
The album’s highlight track, “The Other Side”, would fit amazingly well on your iTunes playlist between Jefferson Airplane and Rush (many fathers’ favorite for some strange reason). The track clocks in at an even 3 minutes, pulls out a touch of surf rock into the well-timed equation, and is an overall joy to endure. The equally catchy, and just as enjoyable quick cut, “Get Together”, might be a bit more updated for dear old Dad with it’s out-of-the-ordinary pop-punk feel. The overall playlist for The Happy Loss is solid. Son of the Sun have a keen understanding of the benefits of guitar-driven harmonies and tantalizing keyboard euphoria.
This New York based band of not so-contemporaries might just be what the mainstream world needs right now. These could very well be the guys that knock Kings of Leon back down off the pedestal the no longer deserve after their latest travesties (pretentious? maybe; whatever). But, when it comes to pure-hearted and perfectly obtuse rock and roll, The Happy Loss hits the proverbial rock dolphin right on the bottle nose of potential mass appeal.
http://www.fensepost.com/main/2010/07/06/son-of-the-sun-the-happy-loss-album-review/
Do you have an itch in your neck for some old-school-influenced, void filling, and harmony driven rock and roll? Are you looking to show your father some “new shit” that he might very well approve of? Well, look no further than Son of the Sun’s debut full length album The Happy Loss. Joseph Stocker and Zak Ward, masterminds behind the operation, have a strange sensibility to themselves when it comes to creating the constantly sought “wall of sound” that so many musicians strive to create.
The album’s highlight track, “The Other Side”, would fit amazingly well on your iTunes playlist between Jefferson Airplane and Rush (many fathers’ favorite for some strange reason). The track clocks in at an even 3 minutes, pulls out a touch of surf rock into the well-timed equation, and is an overall joy to endure. The equally catchy, and just as enjoyable quick cut, “Get Together”, might be a bit more updated for dear old Dad with it’s out-of-the-ordinary pop-punk feel. The overall playlist for The Happy Loss is solid. Son of the Sun have a keen understanding of the benefits of guitar-driven harmonies and tantalizing keyboard euphoria.
This New York based band of not so-contemporaries might just be what the mainstream world needs right now. These could very well be the guys that knock Kings of Leon back down off the pedestal the no longer deserve after their latest travesties (pretentious? maybe; whatever). But, when it comes to pure-hearted and perfectly obtuse rock and roll, The Happy Loss hits the proverbial rock dolphin right on the bottle nose of potential mass appeal.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Americana UK Album Review
Son of the Sun “The Happy Loss” (I Blame Yoko Music, 2010)
by: Paul Villers
http://www.americana-uk.com/auk/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=5557
Sunshine on a rainy day
Of chief biographical note with this band is that the two main protagonists used to live on opposite sides of the States, swapping musical ideas over the internet. All of the press and reviews I’ve read in researching them mentions it so I suppose I’d better do the same. No matter – they and their band mates all ended up in New York and they do have a very New York sound which is the oxymoronic feat of being both ‘spare’ and ‘lush’ at the same time.
They’re a guitar band in essence, acoustic and electric, with bits of keyboard thrown in ('Leopard Print' threatens to be a rehash of 'Strawberry Fields' at one point). What they do with those guitars is pretty nice though – by turns they jangle, sparkle and spike but never quite settle on one or the other. Similarly they sometimes stomp about (opener 'Good Ole Days' and 'Get Together') and sometimes relax into a calmer groove ('How Can It Be?' – a song of trouble and heartbreak – is in this vein and probably the album’s standout track).
Despite these stylistic changes, the project does hang together (the vocal helps, naturally) in a melodious moroseness. The overarching feeling one gets is that sunny California pop has been taken to New York and given a very cold hosing down – which is, by all accounts, what happened. Kudos too for calling their publishing company ‘I Blame Yoko Music’ – that’d guarantee a smile every time.
Date review added: Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Reviewer: Paul Villers
by: Paul Villers
http://www.americana-uk.com/auk/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=5557
Sunshine on a rainy day
Of chief biographical note with this band is that the two main protagonists used to live on opposite sides of the States, swapping musical ideas over the internet. All of the press and reviews I’ve read in researching them mentions it so I suppose I’d better do the same. No matter – they and their band mates all ended up in New York and they do have a very New York sound which is the oxymoronic feat of being both ‘spare’ and ‘lush’ at the same time.
They’re a guitar band in essence, acoustic and electric, with bits of keyboard thrown in ('Leopard Print' threatens to be a rehash of 'Strawberry Fields' at one point). What they do with those guitars is pretty nice though – by turns they jangle, sparkle and spike but never quite settle on one or the other. Similarly they sometimes stomp about (opener 'Good Ole Days' and 'Get Together') and sometimes relax into a calmer groove ('How Can It Be?' – a song of trouble and heartbreak – is in this vein and probably the album’s standout track).
Despite these stylistic changes, the project does hang together (the vocal helps, naturally) in a melodious moroseness. The overarching feeling one gets is that sunny California pop has been taken to New York and given a very cold hosing down – which is, by all accounts, what happened. Kudos too for calling their publishing company ‘I Blame Yoko Music’ – that’d guarantee a smile every time.
Date review added: Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Reviewer: Paul Villers
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