This post is also available in:
Spanish
“Valium, nicotine, alcohol. . . .I’ll take ’em all, I can’t be killed,” the Suns of Beaches singer-guitarist, Arturo Dickson, boasted to the Hard Rock Cafe crowd in his best rock-and-roll, super-hero sort of impersonation, emboldened by the exhilarating view of his fans having a blast at the start of his Thursday, December 3rd concert. Then in a perfectly timed punch line he deadpanned the night’s first song, “All my friends are dead.”
Dickson then proceeded to deliver the band’s newest single from their upcoming album, “Don’t Complicate Yer Life”, a power chord and feedback-blasted tune that goes to the heart of his enduring appeal a decade after leading his shape-shifting brood of psych-rock maniacs.
As his band demonstrated amply (and by that we mean by proficient use of amplifiers) during a steamrolling yet taut 80-minute set, Suns of Beaches are an old-school rock band in search of old-school kicks. At one time or another, its hedonistic quest and psychedelic-rock appetites have attracted anyone and everyone with a fine ear for rock music.
But it’s also an outfit with both a sly sense of humor and playful sense of groove (the pimped-out come-on lyrics of “There Are So Many Things” was a most refreshing attempt to dispense with the testosterone and all those pummeling zeppelin-style riffs, however briefly, and play something for the ladies out there). Dickson was in fine, versatile voice on numbers such as the post-grunge of “You Can’t Do That” and the desert-parched folk-rock of “The King The Loved And The Sodomized”. The band was never less than highly skilled, and visually somewhat adventurous.
The place was Quintana Bar and Lounge and the time was 10pm. The packed house was able to enjoy the band at a closer glance, and at moments it was even close enough to play a part in the show (a couple of people thought it be keen to come onstage and bring beverages to the band, which resulted in chaotic dancing and furthermore enjoyment by part of the band).
Charlie Garmendia (the drummer) looked like he had a tad too much to drink, but was nevertheless tight, frivolous and connected with brand new bass player and friend from the band “Sonics”, Jorge Strofer, who demonstrated with energetic muscle contraptions that music can be danced from the inside out. David Figuer, an old friend and member of previous projects together with Dickson and Garmendia, did guitars and vocals displaying an astonishing level of both skill and talent. Yarianna Arias did backing vocals for the band which sprinkled over a beatlesque but nonetheless feminine magic on top of the mood.
Suns of Beaches are currently in the process of mixing and mastering their first LP called “The King, The Loved, and The Sodomized” which will be available for purchase towards February 2010. The whole thing was tracked in the Dominican Republic in La Viuda Negra Records with the unconditional help of Singer/Songwriter and Producer Nelson Poket, and the album will be flown into New York to be mixed and mastered by Singer/Songwriter/Producer Manuel Lopez. They will also be shooting the music videos for their single “Don’t Complicate Yer Life” and the song “What Kind Of Woman” in January next year.
Stay tuned for the album release which promises nothing more than a renewed sense of fearless freakery for a band that just won’t lapse into stagy routine. “The King The Loved And The Sodomized” leans heavily on the Dickson’s and Garmendia’s formative 60s/70s rock influence but, as Dickson and Garmendia themselves put it, “never before has the band recorded music so unwaveringly sinister, so free, and so devoid of pop-song levity.”
Article contributed by Vivian Dickson-Morato. Thanks Vivian!