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| Sonny Smith, right, with his band (Photo via Polyvinyl Records) |
My latest new favorite song comes curtesy of San Francisco's psych rock band Sonny and the Sunsets. The quirky tune "Moods" is off the group's new album,
Moods Baby Moods, that serves as the fourth album for Polyvinyl since 2012. There are also seven others since 2000, four self-released, plus musical side projects galore by frontman Sonny Smith. For "100 Records" in 2010, he invited 100 artists to create cover art for albums by 100 fictional bands, then Smith wrote two tunes (A side and B side natch) for each. The artwork was exhibited in San Francisco and Williamsburg, NYC, with a jukebox playing the tunes which were featured in a box set.
Smith is a singer/songwriter, author and former troubadour who weaves a storytelling vibe in laid back vocals. As Polyvinyl puts it, "he's in a funk but he's turned it into funk." "Moods" flaunts this retro-tinged sound for a song about synthetic feelings afforded by the modern drug culture. As produced by Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, the percussive thread is thrust front and center. Take a listen to "Moods"
on Soundcloud and give a listen to the entire album out now.
