Suntan - Send You Home
(Kimchee)
Boston's Suntan has done the impressive feat of sounding like they've had the experience of several records on their debut full length. Granted, they did release a short EP last year (and if this is any indication, I really need to pick it up). Nonetheless, it sounds like the record Jason Pierce has been trying to record since 1988. Falling somewhere between Sound of Confusion-era and Playing With Fire-era Spacemen 3 (with a dash of early Pink Floyd and Wayne or Kate Rogers' wah soloing), Suntan's Send You Home is an incredibly fleshed out and lean psychedelic guitar rock record.
The instrumentation is the old standby that never fails—drums, bass, two (occasionally treated) guitars and a very warm organ or two. The songwriting is solid, the dynamics are fully realized, and the textures are well executed. The almost 10 minute long "The Next Ones" is the perfect example, with the drums, bass and organ providing an unwavering footing that the guitars use to launch into the stratosphere, ping ponging and weaving back and forth with one another, eventually building to a wah and delayed wall of psychedelic guitar solo bliss. The song itself is really well written, with a good vocal part (that ascending line is great!), which is only made better by the very nice voice Nick Holdzkom has. One of the standout tracks, "Every Night" adds violins to the instrumentation, bringing Sigur Ros to mind, particularly during its majestic crescendo choruses. At the halfway point, the very short "Wiles/Lecube Interlude" acts as a meandering intro into the next track, and appears to give away a pretty heavy Yume Bitsu influence for the guitar players. Which, could also be drawn to the way the guitars always retain a sense of melodic purpose even while spending several minutes just playing a solo, rather than simply focusing on achieving a texture.
This is a remarkable first album, and should earn Suntan a place among the best psychedelic pop bands.
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