Sunshine Riot shine their alt-rock light on ‘Sparkle Baby 2000’
The Boston indie band delivers a songwriter’s EP on Friday, September 9
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Led by the ‘Song of the Summer’ in ‘Just Say So’ and last month’s ‘Parole Board’
BOSTON, Mass. [September 9, 2022] -- Straight off the jump: The first thing that is needed to know and understand here is that the new Sunshine Riot EP is titled Sparkle Baby 2000. The Boston alt-rock band’s new record, seven songs led by a pair of singles – a June “song of the summer” cruiser called “Just Say So” and last month’s waltzing neighborhood decay lament dubbed “Parole Board” – is set for release on Friday, September 9. And the quartet, as usual, has a sense of humor about things.
Because where last year’s EP Electrical Tape, written and recorded at Chicago’s Electrical Audio with engineer Steve Albini, took its moniker directly from its process and place of origin, Sparkle Baby 2000 is a bit more nebulous in meaning. Because Sunshine Riot wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Naming records is something most bands really labor over, and that has certainly been true of Sunshine Riot over the years. The cold reality though is that the name of your record is, I think, essentially irrelevant,” says vocalist, lyricist, and guitarist Jonny Orton. “Whether or not folks are drawn to a recording has everything to do with the songs and probably not much to do with the name. So, after years of putting out records and really sweating the title, somehow it felt very appropriate to put out a record with a completely absurd name.”
What’s not absurd are the songs contained within the EP. As Electrical Tape was a raw blast of unleashed grunge fury, Sparkle Baby 2000 finds Sunshine Riot in true songwriter mode, appreciating the craft and borrowing as much from The Replacements as Nirvana. In addition to the aforementioned singles, which earned global radio play and blog praise from the likes of The Big Takeover, Blood Makes Noise, If It’s Too Loud, and others, the rest of the record unfolds with a college rock groove and jangle-pop flair. As “Just Say So” was a love-letter to the therapeutic nature of songwriting and “Parole Board” found the musicians wondering what happened to their hometowns now overrun by strip malls, cheap casinos, and faux luxury, the rest of the EP plays out across the board with a sense of playful neuroticism and blazé paranoia fit for 2022. There’s also a song about Elvis, one Sunshine Riot almost considered making a single when that here-today, gone-today biopic came out.
“I'm not sure there is a consistent motif lyrically across the record – I've never been too good at that sort of thing,” Orton admits. “Each song is pretty much its own independent set of images and characters. Part of what I love about songs as a form of storytelling is that while other formats essentially prescribe the narrative to the listener, songs, generally, leave a lot of room in the waist for listeners to move around and create their own interpretation. So, I try to write about characters and places that I hope are compelling with language that captures the right details.”
That holds true for “Verge,” a classic rock spin of grunge, or the infectious, almost jam-band-leaning “Postal Trouble.” They’re calling this record Sparkle Baby 2000, maybe only because Greatest Hits felt too on the nose.
“Musically, I think this is probably one of the more sonically rich records we've put out; there is no shortage of tracks on any given song,” says Orton. “It's quieter at times than a lot of our prior stuff, but we're still a pretty loud rock and roll band and I think the urgency with which we like to play still shines through. As always, the songs here are the best of what we've been working on since the last release. To me the album feels, in a good way, a bit like catching our breath. I suspect everyone could use some of that in 2022.”
Sunshine Riot aren’t trying to make any sort of bold statement with Sparkle Baby 2000, as the band gave up on that sort of thing sometime before the Obama administration. These days, more than a decade on as a collective unit, they’re content with writing the songs they want to write, and playing the songs they want to play, and allowing room for both ideas to shake out over time or crystallize on the spot when a feeling, mood, or sound is rightfully captured.
In turn, as Electrical Tape was a ferocious extension of their live experience, Sparkle Baby 2000 is an expression of musicianship and collaboration, as all four members, comfortable in both their individual and collective skins, contribute to the overall sound and vision, each laboring over the details of each track, and coming together with a single goal is just writing the best songs they can. “What we may lack in mission statements,” Orton says with a laugh, “I hope we make up for in songs that folks enjoy.”
On Sparkle Baby 2000, there’s seven of those, all legit as possible singles in this, the age of the single. And they are unified by that EP title, which, after some added prodding, Orton finally admits to its true origin.
“My wife told me about a year ago,” he reveals, “that her AIM – that’s America Online Instant Messenger, to the un-anointed – name when she was in middle school was ‘Sparkle Baby 2000’ and for some reason I just loved everything about that. I immediately thought ‘I wonder if I could convince the rest of the band to call our next record Sparkle Baby 2000?”
Media Contact: Please direct all press inquiries to the band at booking@sunshineriot.com or Michael Marotta at michael@publisist.co.
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‘Sparkle Baby 2020’ artwork:
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Sunshine Riot is:
Jonny Orton - Guitars, Vocals
Jeff Sullivan - Bass
Mark Tetreault - Guitar
Steven Shepherd - Drums, Percussion
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‘Sparkle Baby 2000’ credits:
Written by Sunshine Riot
Lyrics by Jonny Orton
Produced by George Dussault at Galilee Studios in Cumberland, Rhode Island
Mastered by David Glaser
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The music of Sunshine Riot can be heard on:
Bay State Rock, Blood Makes Noise, Boston Emissions with Anngelle Wood, Boston Groupie News, BumbleBee Radio with Kristen Eck, Christian’s Cosmic Corner (Mark Skin Radio), DigBoston, Everything You Know Is Wrong (Salem State), Garagerocktopia (KUCR Radio), If It’s Too Loud, I’m Music Magazine, indie617, Indie Radio YFM, Jammin with JenCat (Twisted Road Radio), Karen’s Indies (Belter Radio UK), Laura Beth’s Mixtape Show (Reclaimed Radio UK), Lonely Oak Radio, Marc’s Alt-Rock Playground (Mark Skin Radio), Mike on the Mic (WMFO), Monie’s New Music (UK), On The Town With Mikey Dee (WMFO), Only Rock Radio (Spain), Original Music Showcase (Mark Skin Radio), Radio Warfare with Tim Livingston, Rhode Island Free Radio, Rising with Skybar (WMFO), Sunshine Music iRadio, That’s Good Enough For Me, The Attic Show (KPISS), The Bad Copy, The Big Takeover, The Music Authority, Unlikely Places (Mad Wasp Radio), Virtual Detention/Rat Fever (WZBC), Your First Listen (Eardrum Buzz, KNNZ), and other fine outlets, shows, and stations.
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Recent media praise for Sunshine Riot:
“[‘Just Say So’ is] the song of the summer” – I’m Music Magazine
“I definitely hear The Replacements in there mixed with some other ‘90s stuff like Low, Pavement, Bob Mould and others. I guess it’s safe to say this Boston band digs the Midwest ‘90s sound. In my book that’s a pretty rad sound. More please!” – Blood Makes Noise
“If Electrical Tape was the drunken late-night party, this new EP is the morning-after hang as the bar re-opens; a little less primal, a little more reflective. It could be deemed a shift in sound for Sunshine Riot, but in reality, it’s just a natural progression for a bunch of dudes comfortable in their own songwriting skin.” – The Big Takeover
“Boston's Sunshine Riot have written one of the most earwormy songs of the year with ‘Just Say So.’ …This is alternative rock from back in the days when it was college rock, and besides The Replacements, this one is going to make you think of other bands from the era like The Posies and Galaxie 500. ‘Just Say So’ also brings in some of the killer power pop of a band like Cheap Trick, so there's more than a lot to love with this one.” – If It’s Too Loud
“Boston alt-rock band Sunshine Riot's new EP ‘Electrical Tape’ is full of ‘90s nostalgia and vibes, but with their own flair and identity.” – Rebel Noise
Bursting with an energy and adoration for music, Sunshine Riot are a rare breed. Their talent to seamlessly skip from genre to genre with ease is something to be applauded and their ability to create music not only close to their own hearts, but also forging a connection with each listener is unique… melancholic alternative rock, brimming with '90s nostalgia.” – Middle Eight (Manchester, UK)
“[Sunshine Riot] have an alt/indie sound. [‘Parole Board’] slowly evolves and gets darker and darker as the lyrics unfold. Some of it may get by you but when you get to the line ‘we have methadone now’ it will get your attention. Everything seems to come together at that moment and you realize this song is relating [to] a bleak reality.” – Boston Groupie News
"’Parole Board’ is still a mostly upbeat song, but there is a layer of grime and sadness covering the track. The song has a bit of a throwback vibe. It's not quite classic rock or oldies, but it does have a certain vintage sound to it. It's kind of like if you tried putting The Replacements in a freshly pressed suit. It's a little more palatable, but that punk edge is still seeping through.” – If It’s Too Loud
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Press Contact: booking@sunshineriot.com or michael@publisist.co
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