Mistletone

Artwork by Bjenny Montero

Mistletone proudly presents the first Australian tour by San Francisco’s Sonny & the Sunsets — bringing the good times, busted beach-pop songs and glam-garage/ future-doowop sounds from their album Tomorrow Is Alright (recent Triple R Album of the Week, out locally on Spunk Records).

Melbourne punters can bid farewell to summer when Mistletone’s seasonal parties return with Sunny Tones at the Tote, featuring Sonny & the Sunsets and a sun-spangled lineup of fun-loving locals including psych-rock guitar heroines Beaches, golden fuzz-rock duo Super Wild Horses, dream-folk mysterians The Ancients, the debut performance by nu-romantic synth-dreamtime outfit Montero, the shambling suburban trash-poetics of Scott & Charlene’s Wedding and the washed-out teenage kicks of Woollen Kits, plus Bachelor Kitchen DJs between bands. Doors open 3pm.

Sonny & co headline Sydney’s Goodgod Small Club on Thursday 10 March with Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys plus DJs Count Doyle & other locals to be announced, as well as performing in acoustic mode at an FBi benefit gig at the Church on Chalmers (142 Chalmers St, Surry Hills) – a truly glorious venue – on Tuesday March 8, with Wildbirds & Peacedrums (Sweden) and Tiny Ruins (NZ).

Sonny & the Sunsets also join the bill for The Clean‘s Sydney and Melbourne shows.

SONNY & THE SUNSETS TOUR DATES:

MELBOURNE: Saturday 5 March. Sunny Tones @ The Tote w/ Beaches, Super Wild Horses, The Ancients, Montero, Scott & Charlene’s Wedding, Woollen Kits + Bachelor Kitchen DJs. Doors open 3pm. Tickets $25 + booking fee on sale now from the following outlets: Tote front bar: (03) 9419 5320, Polyester Fitzroy: (03) 9419 5137, Polyester City: (03) 9663 8696, Missing Link: (03) 9670 8208, Corner Box Office: (03) 9427 9198 or ONLINE here.

SYDNEY: Tuesday 8 March @ Church on Chalmers (142 Chalmers St, Surry Hills): FBi Benefit concert w/ Wildbirds & Peacedrums (Sweden), Sonny & The Sunsets – acoustic mode + Tiny Ruins (NZ). Tickets $18 + bf for FBi Supporters or $23 others. Presales via Moshtix or $28 on the door. Presented by FBi Radio, Penny Drop & Somedays.

SYDNEY: Wednesday 9 March supporting The Clean @ Factory Theatre w/ Smudge. Tickets on sale now.

SYDNEY: Thursday 10 March @ Goodgod Small Club w/ Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys + DJs Count Doyle. Tickets on sale now from Moshtix. Presented by Mistletone + Rumble.

MELBOURNE: Friday 11 March supporting The Clean @ The Corner w/ Gary Olson (USA) and Actor Slash Model. Presented by Triple R and Inpress. Tickets on sale now from the venue. * SELLING FAST!

GOLDEN PLAINS: Saturday 12 March. More info & tickets here.

MELBOURNE: Sunday 13 March supporting The Clean @ The Corner w/ Panel of Judges. Presented by Triple R and Inpress. * JUST ANNOUNCED!

SONNY & THE SUNSETS BIO

Sonny and the Sunsets’ vintage-style west coast pop songs tell sordid tales of death, drowning, outcasts, heavenly visions and otherworldly despair. Their newest LP, Tomorrow is Alright (out now on Spunk Records) radiates with a classic yet indefinable sound, almost like a futuristic 50s R&B.

California native Sonny Smith started his career playing in a blues piano bar nestled in the mountain towns of Colorado at the age of eighteen.  He then embarked on a journey to Central America, where he lived on an organic farm in the Central American jungle, earning money while touring with a rag tag busking band and playing hotels and cabanas along the coast of the Caribbean.

In 1996, he moved back home to San Francisco, where he continued to focus on writing music, short stories and plays. In the early 2000s he toured in support of Neko Case and Jolie Holland and released a string of solo albums titled, This is My Story, This is My Song, Sordid Tales of Love and Woe, One Act Plays and Fruitvale.  Tomorrow is Alright continues his exploration of outcasts, weirdos, freaks, death, love and atypical transformation.

Sonny formed Sonny and The Sunsets in 2007, with help from friends Shayde Sartin & Tim Cohen (of the Fresh & Onlys), Tahlia Harbour (of Citay and The Dry Spells), Ryan Browne and Kelley Stoltz (Sub Pop recording artist) among others. Together the band created Tomorrow is Alright, recorded on a classic 1970s 388 Tascam tape recorder in various uncommon places including out of Sonny’s camper. Tomorrow is Alright is full of straightforward-pop songs that recall the 1950’s era doo wop of The Falcons combined with the direct sincerity and positive spirit of Modern Lovers’ Jonathan Richman as well as the dark confessional humor of cartoonists like Robert Crumb and Ivan Brunetti.

Sonny Smith currently resides in the Sunset District of San Francisco where he stays busy writing music and providing occasional care to disabled war veterans and other people who have fallen through the cracks of society through a Bay Area based social work agency F & CMS.  He works out of an office in the back of his friends’ surf shop.

In addition to his work as a sometimes columnist or occasional playwright he also opened “100 Records” his first ever solo-art exhibition. The show ran for seven weeks at Gallery 16 in San Francisco; it featured 100 album-covers created by 90 different artists from around the world along with one hundred songs written and recorded by Sonny himself and a custom built jukebox to play those songs. The show then traveled to Austin and New York.