SUNDAY DRUNKS - 'S/T' LP/CD PRESS

I 94 BAR: (The Sunday Drunks- S/T LP/CD, Dead Beat)
Man, I can feel the heat of Texas and the coolness of beer down a dusty throat on this record. These fuckers play a likeable everyman version of rock n roll, garagey without being trendy, with a great rock 'n' roll spirit.

These guys sound like they have spent way to much time in the sun, and it has really helped. No nonsense 4/4 garage rock 'n' roll, not '60s garage, but authentic in spirit garage, minimal production, maximum feel. They kinda sound like a band from Brisbane (must be the overheat thing).

These guys would be great to drink beer with and watch play. I really like the sound of this record and the mix of garage ethic and '70s style but with fair bit of recent attitude thrown in. I really want to see these guys live, I would really enjoy it, but I don't got no Texas airfare (yet).

This is a simple and pure kinda rock n roll, no hidden agendas, no trying to convince me of anything political, a good time heads down get it going racket. If you held a gun to my head and asked me to say who they have a similar sound too i would say Hai Karate/Gas Huffer, but they are not imitators; they just sound American like those bands do.

I fucking love the Sunday Drunks !! - Ashley Thomson

SLEAZEGRINDER: (The Sunday Drunks- S/T LP/CD, Dead Beat)
Now, this little lot deserve credit for winning me over. When the latest parcel of musical delights was eagerly brought back from the Post Office (y'see it was so full of stuff they couldn't put it thru me letter box) and opened I put this on first, judged purely on the name and the rather bizarre flamenco picker type chappie on the cover looking like he's full of some good 'n evil cane spirit hooch concoction and loving evry wobblesome minute while he serenades some poor unsuspecting diners into desperately resuming their hangovers. But folks, alas, it wasn't to be, for this is no-nonsense (or un-adventurous, depending on what side of the rickety old fence you're leaning precariously against) R&B roadhouse pub-rock slomp. And aaaaahhh another with a singer intoning Ig drawls. This is getting stoopid. Sometimes I think there's a little Stage School of Stooge. Like Fame for garage bands. But whatever, it's a nice, upbeat partee album, diverting at the back of a bar while ya slurp ice cold piss but nothing outta the ordinary, but maybe they don't care about that, else they'd be doing something else. I'd rather hear 'em sticking to what they know an' know they can do than listen to some arty-farty shit whilst reading some pr blurb about changing musical landscapes. And so the more I played it the more I dug it. For it's bright, breezy charm has something of the Weaklings four to the floor stomp (tho without their intense violent full-throated attack) or Rose tattoo's similar drive, tho the snakeskin boot heel doesn't quite ever stay pressed hard against the floor too long. Maybe it's the weather. The Texas heat (as mentioned in Trinity River Blues), versus Portland, Oregon's sea air, or maybe they're just kinda laid-back. Indeedy, they don't seem to REALLY kick into gear till "Take A fall" halfway thru. It's only a subtle shift but I picked up on it on first listen. And this is despite possibly the best two tracks - "When You're Gone" and "Good Old Bad Old Days" - being before this point too. But all in all it's low down boogie grind shot thru with Texan sun chugs along pleasantly enuff, and hey you can groove along to it too which is never a bad thing, it's just kinda by-the-numbers stuff. - Stu Gibson

SLEAZEGRINDER: (The Sunday Drunks- S/T LP/CD, Dead Beat)
Having been one myself, I was interested to find out if these Sunday Drunks could live up to the haggard, street nuisance lot in life that their name implies. Well, get out the sawdust and keep 911 on the speed dial, because these cats sound like the real deal. The Sunday Drunks play rattlesnake daddy swagger rock, the kind Chuck Berry used to make, only roughed up to the contemporary standard of sin drivers like American Heartbreak or the Confessions and infused with a shot off Stonesy honky tonk and a splash of 60's fuzz punk. It's like a dizzy mixture of ever more poisonous flavors of rock that would most surely be green, fizzing, and harmful if swallowed were it an actual drink and not just a record that sounds like the last cocktail that nearly did you in. Admitting everything, regretting nothing, and doing it all in classic rubber legged style, the Sunday Drunks are one bloody Mary away from either debauched rock stardom or just falling down dead. Something tells me that either one would suit the boys just fine. (Brigitte)

DEEP FRY BONANZA: (The Sunday Drunks- S/T LP/CD, Dead Beat)
Pop music can generally be separated into two essential components: the song and the sound. Any time one attempts to compose a piece of music, the song should be there. By song, I don't necessarily mean the typical verse/chorus/verse construction... if what constituted a good song were confined to the stable inside that fence, music would be pretty darn boring. What I mean is that it has to have a hook; that hook can be a great chorus, a memorable riff, an interesting sound, or any combination of these and whatever other elements you can imagine.

Every song should have this element, whether it's reggae, hardcore, or polka. So, if all these genres are essentially the same then what makes them seem different? Well, that's what I like to call the sound.

The sound consists of all the little conventions that allow you to pigeonhole genres and subgenres in pop music. Take the Beatles' "I Want To Hold Your Hand," for instance. If you play it normally, it's rock and roll. If you slow it down and play it with upstroke guitar and a loud, thumping bassline it's reggae. If you turn up the distortion and use power chords it's punk. You get the picture.

So why this discussion in a review of the Sunday Drunks? Well, the Sunday Drunks are a band who have obviously put a great deal of time into developing a sound. Sure, they copped it straight from the grooves of their Stooges and Radio Birdman vinyl, but it still sounds great today. Start with an extremely thin, trebly guitar sound, add some loose and spacious drumming, top it all off with laconic vocals that sound like they were recorded early on a Sunday afternoon (maybe with hangover shades on), and you're pretty much there.

The only problem with the Sunday Drunks' sound, and some may not even call it a problem, is that the sound has a tendency to obscure the songs. Maybe the actual songwriting process really was an afterthought for the band; if it was they certainly stumbled onto some pretty solid tunes. "When You're Gone" in particular is an extremely rocking number with a classic chorus, but buried in the middle of this somewhat lengthy CD it's easy to lose it in the shuffle.

So, what am I complaining about then? The Sunday Drunks have an amazing sound, great songs, and are worthy of anyone's attention, especially those of us down with the pre-punk/Detroit stuff like the Stooges and Birdman (and... dare I say it? The Strokes). I suppose I'm just a guy who likes great songs, and the idea that someone might listen to this record without appreciating the great tunes is a little offensive. So buy this record, but be sure to give it the number of listens required to let the quality songwriting make its way to the surface.

BLANK GENERATION: (The Sunday Drunks- S/T LP/CD, Dead Beat)
Now here you got some good shit. The promo sez something about this band being three parts of a Dallas band called The Mullens. I have heard OF them, but never HEARD them... Maybe I should do some back catalogue work because this CD is really pretty damn good.

Rockin’ punk and rockin roll. You know that time when you were drinking all day long and you reach that point where you begin drooling? Its not like you can help it or anything, that sorta shit just happens. Well, a CD of the Sunday Drunks caliber would definitely fit in at that moment.

The Sunday Drunks is a cheap beer band; like Pabst Blue Ribbon or Miller High Life turned dark beer drinking. The Sunday Drunks are a prime example of a punk band that’s progressing leaving three chords and cheap beer being for expensive guitars and ‘better’ beer. Dark beer being better is something I personally don’t agree with, but extensive micro-brew knowledge is something that I could see a band like The Sunday Drunks being involved with.

Yeah, the Cryin Out Louds and The Motards ARE gone, like the promo sez… Even though I don’t see The Drunks being anywhere near a band like that of The Motards, it’s like I said, it is pretty damn good though. Maybe if The Motards had kept it together it could have turned into something like this.... In fact, yeah, I think it DEFINITELY could have. So that shit about The Drunks NOT being as up there as The Motards, shit, now I’m seeing The Sunday Drunks as a Motards continuance. The Sunday Drunks are a Motards that found a better studio.

Packed with twelve all-original tracks, The Sunday Drunks have some real blast here. As the release progresses it gets nothing but better and better. Starting off on a strong mark with "Tarred-n-Feathered" it reaches Point: Critical about halfway through with "When Your Gone", "Take a Fall" and "One on One".....

I’m going to pull some straight up gold out of my hat. To understand what I’m about to say you better have followed my reviews close because I’m going to talk about a Cincinnati local now that I think have something on The Sunday Drunks. That band is The Hypochondriacs. What The Hypochondriacs have on the Drunks is the fact that I know them personally, and the locals are more important than the best band of the style in the world from anywhere else. Go ahead and go down to the Blank Generation (dot com) search engine and look them up. The Hypochondriacs. The Hypochondriacs have that good ol’ fashioned rock and or roll sound, but something that The Hypochondriacs have that the Sunday Drunks DON’T have (because the Hypos are now drinking dark beer on a regular basis), besides the luck of being local, is a rawer more dirty-gutter struggle punk sound. Hearing The Sunday Drunks made me realize, once again, how pertinent The Hypochondriacs are. It also made me realize that if I was in a position that Tom has with Deadbeat, I would maybe try to fly out to Ohio and try to capture some of the wild talent out here with bands like The Hypochondriacs that extends to Kill The Hippies, the Gazelles, and others. But hey, no problem. The Sunday Drunks really won me over.

Hats off to dark beer punk! (SAB)