Weekly Release Spotlight: Sunset
Posted on 12/07/2009
Sunset
Gold Dissolves to Gray
[Autobus]
Austin-based Sunset have accomplished more musically in a few short years than many bands can hope to in a lifetime. In 2008 alone, frontman Bill Baird, a former member of Sound Team, released Songs the Sound of Myself, as Written by Others while Sunset released the Pink Clouds cassette, Bright Blue Dream and The Glowing City – not to mention the “Loveshines II” 7-inch, a gem of a song that effectively converted anyone who was still on the fence about post-Sound Team Baird. The merch table at shows can be downright confusing as any number of homemade cassettes, drone recordings and other trappings can be found, many of them one of a kind, as Baird and the band write and record at a dizzying pace. But perhaps Sunset’s greatest achievement is that all this musical output is both continually evolving and consistently good. Sunset doesn’t need hype or a label bidding war to prove itself – the music, along with the band’s genuinely humble attitude, stands on its own. Sunset is proof that not only can you simultaneously achieve massive quantity and superb quality, but you don’t have to be some aloof, tortured jerk to do it.
Baird and company have developed a craft for writing songs that are completely grounded, yet unearthly. Transcending genre (the closest descriptor you could find would be something like psych-pop-DIY-synth-country-shoegaze-lo-fi-folk) and the politics of the independent music scene (these friendly anti-scenesters have a true work ethic and have stuck with small Austin label Autobus for years), Sunset also transcends traditional songwriting and instrumentation. Antiquated analog electronics, haunting harmonies and unusual recording techniques (plus the oft-neglected handclap or whistle) tie Gold Dissolves to Gray’s widely-varying songs together. “Fishtown” and “Hill Country Smog” are straightforward folk-pop songs with an undercurrent of twang, while “Our Dreams Did Weave a Shade” reaches toward the spookier, effects-heavy earlier Sunset releases and “Sunshine Hair” sounds a lot like Baird’s solo work. “Garden of Eden” and “Civil War” are ballads exploring one of Baird’s favorite lyrical subjects: the folly of human beings.
If Gold Dissolves to Gray is any indication, we can expect a long, fruitful career from Sunset. And if the band’s work ethic, hand-drawn artwork and endearing lyrics don’t draw you in, its gorgeous songwriting – always evolving, but never forgetting its roots - surely will.
Check out two in-studio sessions from Sunset: live from Radio K's SXSW 2009 broadcast, and June 2009.
Stream: Sunset - Bones
Written by Dana Raidt, Radio K volunteer.