by Torrey Proto
With each successive release, Philly behemoths Sun Organ find new and exciting shapes to meld their distorted pop vision into. Featuring increased collaboration on every new album, mastermind Tim Jordan has been able to breathe new life into an established sound. This time around on Candlelight Showertime, his co-conspirators make up likeminded heavyweights like Nyxy Nyx, Webb Chapel, Dark Mtns, Ruah, and Nine of Swords, among others.
You can hear the longing practically dripping from every elongated syllable of Tim Jordan's voice on the gorgeous dirge of "Hours Waiting for You," as his vocals are enveloped in a wash of some of the most beautiful droning guitar leads you've heard since Slowdive's hayday. The lyrics match the sweeping tone of the instrumental, recalling the familiar feeling of accepting the disappointment that someone you were once close to may never return: "We were laughing the whole time / We did cocaine and went wild / I’ve been waiting for you. It’s not right. We never win. The house is silent again / Stella says 'I can’t take care of you anymore, man.'” The narrator traces the highs and lows of a complex relationship while questioning their own place within it.
Sun Organ pull off the incredible feat of leaning into dark and ugly subject matter without wallowing in it, but instead choosing to emerge from the struggle despite the odds. Wielding their trademark fuzz like a weapon, they inject their songs with enough grit, dynamic shifts, and memorable vocal melodies to keep the abyss from swallowing them up. One needn't look further than Sun Organ's Bandcamp bio which reads "oh fuck I think the end of times has come" for a primer for the subject matter of this record. The band's heavy tunes feel downright apocalyptic - dealing with death, substance abuse, memory, and loss - while managing to somehow feel hopeful despite the burdens they carry.
Opener "God Loves His Little Things Pt 1" brings to mind the the religious symbolism of fellow Philly native Alex G with the chanted mantra-like call of the titular phrase before a mammoth-sized wall of sound overtakes everything, giving way entirely to a serene outro of whispered vocals and softly strummed guitar. These moments of quiet beauty following devastating passages of sludge are what make this record so goddamn beautiful. An earworm synth melody chirping in the background just underneath Jordan's pleading voice on "Swallowed in Waves," the steady tambourine pulse that kicks off "High in the Shower Pt 1," or the quiet fingerpicked guitar refrain of "Moment of Peace 2018" that rings in one of the record's most powerful heavy opening riffs on "God Loves His Little Things Pt 2." These small details reveal themselves upon close listens and show the band to be a subversive, well-oiled unit at the height of their powers. Sun Organ are all about perseverance in the face of challenge. No matter what darkness precedes it, the light always peeks through.