by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Few bands offer as immersive a psychedelic journey as Brooklyn's experimental wanderers Sunwatchers. The instrumental quartet's cosmic boogie is both sprawling and refined, a visionary sound that speaks volumes without the need for vocals. Set to release their new album, II, on February 2nd via Trouble In Mind Records (Doug Tuttle, The Paperhead, Rays), the record is a rejuvenating experience of caterwauling saxophone, shuffling rhythms, Eastern influenced guitars, phins, synths, violas, and beyond. It's a step out of this planet and into the next realm, but a beacon of light for our reality as well. Their mission statement reads, "Sunwatchers stand in solidarity with the dispossessed, improverished, and embattled people of the world" and the band are opening minds every step of the way.
"Nose Beers," the opening track from their sophomore record envelops right from the start, bursting to life in muted colors and dazzlingly jazzy drum patterns. Jason Robira's loose rhythms glide in a free form with Peter Kerlin's deep grooving bass lines, setting the backdrop for the band's guitars, saxophones, and Eastern modalities to come alive in sprightly fashion, locked into the beat's nimble backbone and sprawling in all directions from there. If "music is the healing force of the universe" as they believe (and we do too), then Sunwatchers are our spiritual guides, leading us into the void and back out toward a better future.
Sunwatchers' II is out February 2nd via Trouble In Mind Records.