Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones capture a weekend mood with ‘Bye Bye Sunday Afternoon’
Boston’s rowdy rock and roll octet bids farewell to weekend bliss with a new Rock Garden Records single and video on Wednesday, May 1
OUT NOW: Watch ‘Bye Bye Sunday Afternoon’ on YouTube
NOW PLAYING: Listen to ‘Bye Bye Sunday Afternoon’ on Spotify
Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones play Rock Garden Records’ label showcase in July
BOSTON, MA [May 1, 2024] – In the decades since music first became cool, there have been countless songs about Friday night, Saturday night, and even Sunday mornings. But rarely does an artist go where so many of us fear the most – that uneasy stretch of time where the weekend starts to fade, the ominous threat of Monday morning looms overhead, and the blissful joys of life are replaced by our collective responsibilities and commitments. There are few songs about Sunday afternoons, because, well, let’s face it, depending on how they are spent, Sunday afternoons can be kind of terrible.
So Smitt E. Smitty is here to give them the song it requires – as well as the soul-infused, arena-ambitious rock and roll anthem fit to lift the mood.
On Wednesday, May 1, Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones unveil the official music video for “Bye Bye Sunday Afternoon,” which hits YouTube with another Smitty-directed visual shortly after the decadent genre-bending collaborative track first crashes the streams via Rock Garden Records on April 19.
Smitty admits there are a few different allowable interpretations of “Bye Bye Sunday Afternoon,” the rambunctious Boston octet’s debut effort for Rock Garden and the follow-up to last fall’s rowdy garage rock ripper “The Growler.” For some, it could be about realizing a relationship has hit the skids, and that it’s time to get out of a bad situation -- something Smitty says is hidden deep within the song’s lyrical DNA. But for most, it reflects that feeling we often have when the thrills of a raucous weekend are soon replaced by all the lame stuff that usually arrives, undeterred, on Monday morning.
Lou Reed and Lionel Richie may have sung wistfully about Sunday mornings, and Susanna Hoffs may have declared it her “fun day,” but Smitty understands what that specific portion of the week is really all about.
“It’s all about a feeling,” Smitty reveals. “Oftentimes, when I’m driving home from NYC, on a Sunday afternoon after a big Saturday night show, I’m left with a sense of not only accomplishment, but a feeling of ennui. The show was a huge success, but now I’m a little sad it’s over. More times than not, it’s a Sunday afternoon, and I’m driving home, left in my car with my thoughts for a number of hours. I’ll think, ‘bye bye beautiful Sunday afternoon, it was wonderful, but now I have to go home... bye-bye.””
Though the Fezztones have blasted out a string of inspired, no-holds-barred singles over the past few years – including 2022’s fiery “Buzzkill Baby”; last year’s driving cover of Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel,” and the aforementioned, Halloween-themed “The Growler” – it’s “Bye Bye Sunday Afternoon” that showcases a different look – and sound – for the band. Here, a pair of Fezztones band members and backing vocalists, “Subtle” and “Serious,” also known as Linda Pardee of The Chelsea Curve and Cold Expectations’ JoEllen Saunders Yannis, take center stage to deliver the lead vocals.
“Linda and JoEllen are so incredibly talented and creative, we really needed to highlight and showcase them more,” says Smitty “When we went into the recording studio at New Alliance Audio in 2020, smack dab in the middle of the pandemic, I knew we had a prime opportunity to feature Linda and JoEllen, and ‘Bye Bye Sunday Afternoon’ was that moment. To say they killed it is the understatement of the universe. They make the song simply magical.”
Engineered by Alec Rodriguez at New Alliance four years ago, “Bye Bye Sunday Afternoon” has been in the Fezztones’ arsenal of unreleased tracks for the past few years. But after receiving a jolt of remastering magic on the final mix from Todd Erickson of Rock Garden Records at his Launch Pad Studios in Portland, Maine, Smitty knew it was the perfect release to kick off the band’s relationship with the blooming label. Now a featured band on the label, the Fezztones will be taking part in Rock Garden Records’ second showcase, “Evolution!”, at Warehouse XI in Somerville over the weekend of July 26 and 27.
“Lisa [Erickson, co-owner] and Todd were so driven to have Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones on Rock Garden Records, as well as [my other band] Little Billy Lost, it was apparent what we needed to do,” Smitty says. “The absolute most beautiful thing about working with Rock Garden Records is they have gone leaps and bounds beyond anything we could have imagined. It may be one of the single best, smartest, and most creative decisions we could have ever made.”
Part of that reason is allowing Smitty room for his own creativity to shine through – and instilling in him the confidence to go all-out with each new release. While a lot of the Fezztones’ sound is rooted in Smitty’s garage rock background, and compiling various sounds and styles from radio hits that span the ‘60s to ‘80s, “Bye Bye Sunday Afternoon” taps into a different musical lane for the Detroit native, who Rock Garden has affectionately dubbed “Motor City Smitty.” The party-starting adrenaline is still intact, but a new, soulful side has emerged.
“I really wanted to lean into my Motown roots from growing up in Detroit,” Smitty notes. “I knew Andrew Padua would tear it up on bass, the driving source of the song. The entire band showed up on ‘Bye Bye Sunday Afternoon’, and offered their usual stellar talented musicianship, as they always do. This song represents the total sum of the parts for us. The song practically wrote itself. That’s how you know you’re onto something really great.”
The music video, directed and edited by Smitty, heightens the song by placing the band high atop roadside billboards as the band serenades all who pass by below. A larger-than-life song simply needed a larger-than-life visual.
“The idea of placing Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones on different backgrounds like billboards, roof tops, on the moon, and the like, just seemed too ‘tongue in cheek’, creative, and FUN to pass up,” Smitty says with a laugh. “And I'm just the guy to do it! I have been doing animated videos for decades. I have the chops, so to speak. When I showed an initial short clip of the opening ‘billboard’ scene to my bandmates, as well as Lisa and Todd, they all lost their collective minds. I knew I was on the right track.”
And when that track isn’t diving back from a gig or lamenting the “real world” coming up fast in the morning, Smitty admits that he’s actually a fan of Sunday afternoons – when you strip all the other stuff away.
“My ‘perfect’ Sunday afternoon starts with a heartfelt Sunday morning breakfast,” he jokes. “Blueberry pancakes are very popular around here between my better half, Lucia, and I. Fresh ground coffee is a must. Listening to some great music as we enjoy our breakfast, followed by... wait for it... wait... wait... YARD WORK!!! Yeah, I said it! Yard work. After a loving breakfast, we go outside and work in our yard. Here’s the beautiful thing: After we get done working on our lawn, we come back inside, wonderfully exhausted, have adult drinks, and start preparing our Sunday dinner. A vodka martini with many olives goes very nicely with that. Another favorite activity we sometimes enjoy is going to flea markets and yard sales on Sunday. Love ’em! I do love Sundays.”
It’s just what comes next that’s worth writing a song about. But we already have plenty of those.
‘Bye Bye Sunday Afternoon’ production credits:
Written by Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones
Music video directed and produced by Smitt E. Smitty
Released on Rock Garden Records (2024)
Recorded @ New Alliance Audio (2020)
Engineered by Alec Rodriguez
Re-mastered by Todd Erickson @ Launch Pad, Portland, ME (2024)
Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones are:
Linda Pardee: Vocals
JoEllen Saunders Yannis: Vocals
Smitt E. Smitty: Vocals, drums, harmonica, keyboards, percussion
James Melanson: Guitar
Eddie Nowik: Guitar
Andrew Padua: Bass
Jonathan LaMaster: Violin
Johnny Sestito: Drums
‘Bye Bye Sunday Afternoon’ single artwork:
Media praise for Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones:
“Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones are a force of nature! Buildings, as well as audiences, shake with delight during their shows! You can be what you want with the Fezz!” _Dave THE Boogieman, Radio NewYork International
“[It’s] both wicked spooky and wicked awesome. ‘The Growler’ is a well crafted gem that proves that you can rock out and have a blast doing it.” _The Whole Kameese
“It’s not often that a cover version of a classic is able to capture the magic of an original, but in this case, Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones do it with their cover of Bowie’s ‘Rebel Rebel’. While this song has been covered by everyone from Duran Duran to Springsteen, Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones bring a freshness, earnestness, and authenticity to the song. And we love that authenticity! You can tell, Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones really mean it, MAN! So check it out… whether you’ve torn your dress or your face is a mess, Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones bring it on home!” _Troy and Craig, The Garage D’Or
“Looks like these madcap rebels have the time of their lives.” _Turn Up The Volume
“Like we anticipated, [‘The Growler’] rules. Boston’s version of Electric Six or maybe long lost relatives of Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys, Smitt E. Smitty is a fun maker with a growing gang of co-conspirators that are all about the Rawk and we can definitely get behind that!” _Rock And Roll Fables
“Boston's Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones make weirdo rock and roll. The band's latest single, ‘Buzzkill Baby,’ falls on the heavier side of rock without being metal, punk, or even hard rock. It's a bombastic cut with more of a choir than gang vocals, and more than its fair share of groove. It combines the proto-punk of Smitty's hometown of Detroit with the anything goes rock and humor of Frank Zappa and the lighthearted vibes of They Might Be Giants. It's a weird song that is still firmly rooted in rock without being a true novelty song. It's a special kind of skill to go this deep into the world of fun or weird without getting zany, and Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones deftly pull this off.” _If It’s Too Loud
Smitt E. Smitty short bio:
Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones. Born and raised in Detroit. Moved to Boston in 1985. Smitty played in a great many Detroit bands including The Blind, Zero Ambience, L-Seven and Figures on a Beach. After moving to Boston, Figures on a Beach got signed to Sire/Warner Records and released music until the early ‘90s. FOAB disbanded 1991. Smitty then joined the Wax Trax label in Chainsuck, with lead singer songwriter Marydee Reynolds, until 1999. Smitty then played in Fireking until 2017, and joined Little Billy Lost directly after, where he holds down the beat to this day. Emerging from behind the drums, now is the time for him to lead his own band of musical misfits – Enter Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones!
After releasing Smitt E. Smitty's debut album in 2017, titled Just A Modern Guy, Smitty went back into the recording studio with Alec Rodriguez of New Alliance Audio, in Somerville, MA. This time with The Fezztones, a playful and rambunctious octet that gave him a full, big-band sound and shared his musical vision of garage rock meets glam. The result is a collection of songs led by instant classic “Buzzkill Baby,” a cover of David Bowie’s iconic “Rebel Rebel,” and summer hit “The Growler,” which got the music video treatment in late 2023. Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones’ debut single and video for Rock Garden Records, the anthemic and Motown-inspired “Bye Bye Sunday Afternoon,” arrives in Spring 2024.
