Sunday's Best
Polyvinyl Records
No doubt they're pranksters and goofballs in real life, but when you listen to Sunday's Best's music, you wouldn't guess any of them have an unserious bone in their bodies. The Los Angeles quartet offers a pleasingly reflective, almost plaintive, approach to emo, one that features thoughtful vocals and at times jangly instrumentals. There are plenty of chugging rhythms and flayed, raw emotions to satisfy the most rabid emocore fan, but there's also admirable restraint and intelligence running through Sunday's Best's stuff.
The group's start came at KXLU, Loyola Marymount University's famous college radio station, where guitarist Ian Moreno, singer/bassist Ed Reyes, and drummer Tom Ackerman (formerly of Skiploader) all worked in the late '90s. Moreno and Reyes started the band with singer/guitarist Pedro Benito, a friend of Reyes's, and recorded the band's first seven-inch single in 1998, before recruiting Ackerman to play drums. In '99, they put out their first CDEP, the seven-song Where You Are Now, and in 2000, they followed with their first LP, Poised to Break, on Polyvinyl. In 2002, their sophomore effort The Californian appeared, showcasing the group's most perfect and clean pop sound yet.
"Too Soon to Laugh" and "Truest You" first appeared on the Where You Are Now EP on Crank. "When Is Pearl Harbor Day?," featuring guest guitarist Blair Shehan of The Jealous Sound, appeared first on a split seven-inch with Red House Painters and then on Better Looking's Holiday Matinee Volume 2 compilation. "Love My Friends, Hate My Life" is featured on the Slowdance comp Slightest Indication of Change. "Indian Summer" comes from Poised to Break. Finally, "The Salt Mines of Santa Monica" appears on The Californian.
Jesse Ashlock
last updated:
05/21/02
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