SALINAS RECORDS News

Justin Sullivan has been living something of an artistic double life for the last 8 years. He’s been playing drums in Los Angeles’ Flat Worms and getting back together with his NYC bandmates in The Babies, but he’s also been crafting his own songs under the name Night Shop. Under this moniker, Sullivan has released two LPs and two 12” EPs and toured supporting, Widowspeak, Shannon Lay and Waxahatchee.

Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield once described Sullivan as “a well-read modern day Buddy Holly” and on his new record, The Beloved Returns, he raises the bar of both the literary allusions and the rock’n’roll. The record’s title track was inspired by Thomas Manns’s 1939 fictionalized biography of Goethe titled Lotte in Weimar: The Beloved Returns and themes of desire, obsession and the places they send you are all over the record. On the sonic end, the record is louder and faster than any Night Shop record before, a result of Sullivan’s collaboration with the Summer Cannibals’ Jessica Bourdeaux who produced the record, with songs like the opener “Ode To Joy II” coming fast out of the gate quickly followed by “Let Me Be the Lamb.”

Comparing Miracle Debt to bands like the Replacements or Husker Du is a cheap shortcut. It’s not totally wrong; the three piece are a band making melodic punk and their songs do have distinct hardcore influences. But it's mostly just a geographically reference since Miracle Debt are from Minneapolis. The songs on their new LP, Under the Shadow are at their core short, DIY punk songs with riffs and twang that bleed through each and every one of the thirteen tracks.

Since forming in 2019, the band played locally, and toured regularly. By the time they were ready to record their second LP, Under the Shadow. In those years since the band started, Minneapolis and its punk scene have endured profound tragedy. As singer and guitarist Forrest Jedediah said of the record, “It's about moving forward, to keep some love in the face of horrible odds and traumatic loss. Holding on to what's good despite a spinning compass.”

Lazy Sunday’s first LP “Another Summer” is what bassist KT Austin has called a “90’s nostalgia pop-punk” record about love. The band says, "This record is all about big feelings from the past, present and future. Big firsts, big lasts, and letting go.” Songs like Differentiation and Flutter bust out of the gate with classic pop-punk tempos layered with singers Rani Gupta and B Okabe’s dreamy melodies. The album’s finale, Closer, reveals Lazy Sunday’s ability to play slower, spacier songs and showcases the production work of drummer Jeremy Dunlap.

"Another Summer" by Lazy Sunday includes the following tracks: "Long Con", "You Said", "Peaches", "For An Old Friend" and more.

"Partial Traces continue to evolve on their fourth LP, Stay Dreaming. The stripped down pandemic-era recording techniques they employed during the recording of their previous record, Wild Surf / Quiet Blues, helped the band evolved to a significantly sparser sound.

On Stay Dreaming the band has made a beautiful and sometimes haunting synth heavy record with rich, dreamy layers and plenty of feedback that evokes The Jesus and Mary Chain or Beach House."

New Hampshire born, New Brunswick based, singer-songwriter Jason
Anderson has spent the last five years making Canada home, landing first
in Toronto before settling in Fredericton - The idea of home the places we
come from, the places we return to is a powerful theme throughout his
epic new record First Light
First Light is a compelling, cathartic listen, as Anderson's poetic lyrics and
anthemic melodies make for an inspired fit with producer Thomas Wincek.
Drawing on his All Tiny Creatues project as well as his work with Justin Vernon's
Volcano Choir, Wincek has created a huge sonic backdrop here. Anderson's
expansive narratives and sing-along hooks weave through explosive rockers like
Caps Ridge Line and Still Life, pastoral mood pieces like Looking Glass and
Streetlamps , and haunting ballads like the pensive "Tower in the Fog and
gorgeous closer Halloween. The whole thing feels a bit like indie- folk stadium
rock, as if The Weakerthans were fronted by fellow Canadian Bryan Adams. As
Anderson puts it, € What started as a text exchange between me and Tom about
Joni Mitchell in the 80s turned into something strange and awesome. What's
perhaps most awesome about the project is hearing a bedroom singer-songwriter
pushing themselves in such a fun and unexpected way. First Light is a really
special record.

‘The Fountain was supposed to be a full length album but as the songs took shape, I realized that there was something cohesive going on with a smaller batch.
They all focused on the theme of platonic love with a sense of gratitude. I think that traditionally, I had mostly written yearning, romantic odes and it was nice to focus on what was right in front of me,’ says Justin Sullivan, who records as Night Shop and also plays with Kevin Morby.
Fittingly, The Fountain is a family affair, with friends and collaborators bringing the songs to life. The E.P. features Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) on backup vocals, Meg Duffy (Hand Habits) on guitar and bass, Sofia Arreguin (Wand) on piano, Jarvis Taveniere (Woods), engineering and playing a host of instruments, Anna St. Louis on backup vocals, Tiffanie Lanmon (Jess Williamson) on drums and Flat Worms bandmates Ivy and Hellman.