culture for companies to lazily cash in on. While many people are talking about 2016 online, there has also been a rise of young bands influenced by the post-punk of late 70s New York with a distinctly modern sense of wry humor — most notably, the New York group Geese.
A new Los Angeles band has joined this wave, carving out their own path. Sunday Mourners is a four-piece that blends jagged guitars and indie rock rhythms with a frontman who combines irony and sincerity. While the band had released the power-pop tinged “Boyfriend/Girlfriend” EP in 2024, their debut album “A-Rhythm Absolute” marks an expansion into more diverse musical territory that’s almost always compelling, if not always original.
Opening track “Careers in Acting” instantly sets the scene with a mildly abrasive guitar tone balanced by tightly wound pop melodies. Frontman Quinn Robinson’s sardonic vocal delivery underlies the song’s dry tone, skewering show business in the internet age with a knowing wink.
The album quickly moves to the frantic drums of “Biograph.” An enjoyable, breezy indie rock tune, the song recalls college rock staples like The Feelies and The Modern Lovers, perhaps a bit too closely. Younger fans may be excited by the energetic rush, but older fans of this era in rock may find the similarities too prominent to feel fresh.
“Darling” starts as a gentle, romantic ballad before bursting into a frenzy of distorted electric guitar. Another band may have put a 12-minute detour like this much later in the tracklist, but Sunday Mourners puts it third, and it pays off, contrasting the quicker tone of the rest of the album.
The jangly single “There’s a Garden in You” is a standout, combining oblique free verse in the vein of early R.E.M. with the quirky sweetness of the chorus. The following track, “He Cried (Tender Absolute”) even references Jonathan Richman outright with its “She cracked” refrain, but this time the reference feels more like a unique twist on Richman’s irony-laden tweeness than the pastiche of other tracks.
“Love Observations” is a callback to the more melodic sensibilities of the band’s “Boyfriend/Girlfriend” EP. The shimmering guitars recall groups like Big Star, but Robinson’s distinct mix of quivering sincerity and cool detachment gives the song its own voice.
The closing track “When Dreams Come True” has a dark, slightly off-kilter rhythmic feel. Its repetitive instrumentation contrasts with Robinson’s surreal lyricism that alternates between wry emotionality and ominous undertones.
Disappointingly, it is quite difficult to find the band’s lyrics online. Robinson has a knack for witty one-liners, like “Don’t make it big on the internet, it won’t help you” in “Careers in Acting.”
While occasionally failing to overcome the shadow of its influences, “A-Rhythm Absolute” doesn’t feel entirely derivative. It feels like a big first step in what looks to be a very promising career.