Sunshine Riot get loud and quiet for the afterlife with ‘Room To Moan’
Sunshine Riot get loud and quiet for the afterlife with ‘Room To Moan’
Boston’s alt-grunge noise-slingers look ahead into the unknown with another piece to their forthcoming EP on Friday, March 24
OUT NOW: Listen to ‘Room To Moan’ via Spotify
Anticipated new EP ‘Loud, Bright and Violent’ set for release April 21
Listen to recent singles ‘Looking at the Past’ and ‘So It Comes’ on Spotify
BOSTON, Mass. [March 24, 2023] -- The new single from Sunshine Riot can be summed up fairly efficiently: “Room To Moan,” which hits the streams on Friday, March 24, is painfully simple, a little shaky, and really loud, except when it's not. While that could also be used to describe the Boston alt-grunge band’s overall sound, particularly over the course of a trio of EP’s released since 2021, the sentiment rings wildly true here. “Room To Moan” is the third offering this year from Sunshine Riot, and the third track to be featured on next month’s Loud, Bright and Violent EP, recorded in Chicago with Steve Albini of Electrical Audio.
Under that simple description of sound lies a vast depth to its lyrical component. While the two prior Loud, Bright and Violent singles have reflected on yesterday’s mistakes (January’s “Looking at the Past”) and today’s wild mood swings (February’s “So It Comes”), the riff-driven and dynamic “Room To Moan” ponders what’s next – especially when we shake off this mortal coil. And as Sunshine Riot continue to earn aural comparisons to notable bands from the ‘90s, from Nirvana (Boston Groupie News) to Mother Love Bone and The Gits (If It’s Too Loud), “Room To Moan” takes some thematic inspiration from one of Chris Cornell’s more introspective moments.
“There's a line in Soundgarden's ‘The Day I Tried to Live’, it goes ‘The lives we make / Never seem to get us anywhere but dead’. It always struck me,” says Sunshine Riot frontman Jonny Orton. “There is something gripping about that lyric – I think we all do tend to make a life, at least in part, because we don't want to think about the one certainty that makes us alive. Death is an awfully scary thing – I'm not sure what comes next. I hope it's not nothing, forever.”
Orton has come face-to-face with the question, adding: “When I was 22 I had a strange medical thing that put me in the hospital for a while with brain and heart swelling and, for a bit, it kind of looked like it would be curtains for me. That was terrifying, of course, but I think anyone that's had a close call like that would agree, there's a kind of reverence for living that follows the experience. It also really makes you appreciate living in Boston and having health insurance.”
As he did with “Looking at the Past,” this new single introduces new characters to the Sunshine Riot universe, and in this case, some Beverly Hills or old money elitists. “They're not intended to be sympathetic characters, and yet, the more we play the song the more I think, maybe, they are. In the simplest terms, they're rich folks who are miserable; wrestling with a reality of death that money can neither fully distract them from nor negate. And I think that winds up making them oddly relatable.”
But like all Sunshine Riot songs, the finished product was a group effort. Orton came up with the basic chord structure and loud/quiet dynamic and brought it to the band, and the quartet filled in the rest. What blooms is a composition that leans in on timing; the pauses in the song are at times even more dramatic than when the band cranks up the chaos, like an oncoming wave that elicits fear before crashing ashore, simply because one can feel it coming.
“I think ‘Room To Moan’ is a great example of the kind of stuff we like to record in Chicago – I suppose it's classic loud/quiet dynamic grunge,” Orton admits. “It's also the closest thing to a Bush song we've ever written, which is kind of funny given their history with Albini. They sort of got laughed out of the room for recording Razor Blade Suitcase with him, which is a great example of the absurdity of record-label era music – it's actually a pretty killer album, but they got panned, I think, for ‘trying to be Nirvana’... good thing such sacred cows died with the industry itself. [awkwardly clears throat].”
But with this song, as well as the two prior EP tracks and the fourth and final song that arrives with the EP next month, Sunshine Riot aren’t trying to take things too seriously. They’re just a rock band playing rock music, honing their sound with Albini out in Chicago (when not working with George Dussault at Galilee Productions in Rhode Island, where they crafted last year’s Sparkle Baby 2000 EP), and exploring certain themes that we all are in a post-pandemic world. After all, we’re all going to die. All that’s left is the when, the how, and maybe if we’re lucky, there’s a “with who” as part of the narrative.
“I'm not sure if dying alone is tragic and debilitating or, perhaps, necessary and awe inspiring,” Orton concludes. “I surely won't profess to know, but if you catch me just before I ship off, I will do my best to let you know.”
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Sunshine Riot is:
Jonny Orton - Guitars, Vocals
Jeff Sullivan - Bass
Mark Tetreault - Guitar
Steven Shepherd - Drums, Percussion
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‘Room To Moan’ credits:
Written by Sunshine Riot
Lyrics by Jonny Orton
Recorded by Steve Albini and Taylor Hales at Electrical Audio in Chicago, IL.
Mastered by Matthew Barnhart, Chicago Mastering Services.
Artwork by Steven Shepherd, Drums PhD
Sunshine Riot EP anthology bio:
Gritty times call for gritty sounds. And Sunshine Riot are answering the bell.
For the past 15 years or so, the veteran Boston rock band ran with a variety of genres, swirling around a cocktail of guitar-rock that boasted dalliances with soul, Americana, punk, blues, and grunge. But as darkness fell upon society at the start of the pandemic age, the quartet entered a new era, unleashing a series of three EPs over three years: 2021’s Electrical Tape with acclaimed engineer Steve Albini at Chicago’s Electrical Audio; 2022’s Sparkle Baby 2000 with producer George Dussault at Galilee Studios in Rhode Island; and 2023’s Loud, Bright and Violent, which saw the band crank up the volume once more and return to Chicago to link back up with Albini.
The results are a seasoned band making music on their own terms: Electrical Tape acts as a raw, damn near primal alternative rock record that packs the introspection and dedication one must possess to survive in this day in age; Sparkle Baby 2000 leans into a mindful and hyper-aware college rock and jangle-pop sound that calls back to our indie influences and explores an uncertain adulthood through a modern lens; and Loud, Bright and Violent fixates on the paranoia and purgatory we feel as we slowly come to terms with the pandemic age.
The trio of EPs may come off like an evolution in sound for Sunshine Riot, but after more than a decade in the game, what emits from the speakers is a band finally comfortable in their own skin, playing this damned game of rock and roll with an ace up their collective sleeve, propped up by their own merits and fueled by their own creativity. In the end, despite what dressing coats the core of whatever genre label someone on the outside may apply, the foundation remains a rock and roll ethos as timeless as the music itself.
Play it loud, and come scream along.
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The music of Sunshine Riot can be heard on:
Banks Radio Australia, Bay State Rock, Blood Makes Noise, Boston Emissions, Boston Groupie News, BumbleBee Radio, Christian’s Cosmic Corner (Mark Skin Radio), Click Roll Boom, Code Zero Radio, DigBoston, Everything You Know Is Wrong (Salem State), Garagerocktopia (KUCR), Good Music Radio UK, Hump Day News, If It’s Too Loud, I’m Music Magazine, indie617, Indie Radio YFM, Jammin with JenCat (Twisted Road Radio), Karen’s Indies (Belter Radio UK), Laura Beth’s Mixtape Show (Reclaimed Radio UK), Lonely Oak Radio, Marc’s Alt-Rock Playground (Mark Skin Radio), Mike on the Mic (WMFO), Monie’s New Music (UK), Moosic Entertainment, Music Box Pete, On The Town With Mikey Dee (WMFO), Only Rock Radio (Spain), Original Music Showcase (Mark Skin Radio), PipiloPop, Radio Warfare with Tim Livingston, Rhode Island Free Radio, Rising with Skybar (WMFO), Rock And Roll Fables, Sunshine Music iRadio, That’s Good Enough For Me, The Alternative Frequencies (Leyland Radio), The Attic Show (KPISS), The Bad Copy, The Big Takeover, The Whole Kameese, The Music Authority, The Tony Jones Show, Tour Bus Tunes, Unlikely Places (Mad Wasp Radio), V13, Virtual Detention/Rat Fever (WZBC), Your First Listen (Eardrum Buzz, KNNZ), Zeno.FM, and other fine outlets, platforms, programs, and radio stations.
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Recent media praise for Sunshine Riot:
“Somewhere in between Gaslight Anthem, Against Me!, and fellow Bostonians Eldridge Rodriguez sits the first taste of that EP in the form of ‘Looking at the Past’ which brings a more anthemic quality to the Beantown outfit’s brand of Folksy Alt-Americana. …there’s just no denying that this is some next level Sunshine Riot stuff here!” – Rock And Roll Fables
“Many bands have tried to duplicate the grunge alt-rock sound of the ‘90s. Some have come close but Boston based Sunshine Riot is different … They may be firmly rooted in the alt-grunge sound however, Sunshine Riot has this almost ‘secret sauce’ quality to their sound that makes it all their own. – The Whole Kameese
“[‘Looking at the Past’] is a reflective piece that allows the band to take elements from yesteryear, but translate it on a more modern aesthetic that today’s audience will comprehend and fall in line with.” – Music Box Pete
“The dual guitars of Jonny Orton and Mark Tetreault along with Orton’s raspy & gritty vocals counteract the tightly knit rhythms courtesy of Jeff Sullivan on bass and Steven Shepherd on drums. [‘So It Comes’] is a blistering track that nears the three-minute mark with killer riffs and pulsating beats.” – Culture Beat
“A lot of music gets labeled grunge these days, and most of it is just ‘90s influenced alt-rock and not actual grunge. Boston’s Sunshine Riot is actually grunge, or at least alt-grunge. Their new single ‘So It Comes’ has that growl mixed with fuzzy guitars that is truly required to be grunge. There is just a certain style of guitar fuzz required, and they nail it. Plus, Jonny Orton has more than a little of Kurt Cobain’s snarl in his vocals. ‘So It Comes’ is a little poppier than a lot of ‘90s grunge, but it does include some psychedelic elements which makes it more along the lines of The Gits or Mother Love Bone. This is the kind of song that is going to elicit some nostalgia even though it’s brand new.” – If It’s Too Loud
“Sunshine Riot does some interesting things with songs… There’s real turmoil going on. – Boston Groupie News
“The blistering new track is the first taste of new music from the quartet, a satisfying blend of blistering and twangy. We love the band’s refusal to pigeonhole themselves into just one genre, this new track part of an ever ongoing sonic evolution that continues to feel fresh but, very much, feels very Sunshine Riot.” – Tour Bus Tunes
“The buildup to ‘Looking at the Past’, one of the first singles off Sunshine Riot’s new record Loud, Bright, and Violent, sounds like throwback skiffle jive before it explodes into a fiery ball of grunge. Watch for a brief return to the old time rock n roll around 2:45 before the stompbox finish. It’s a kind of loud-quiet-loud dynamic, done with genre along with volume, that will keep you guessing.” – Hump Day News
“‘Looking at the Past’ is a grungy, un-tempo, somewhat chaotic, somewhat well-formed tune with elements of country and a splattering of raucous post punk energy. There's fuzzy guitars that increase in fuzziness as the tempo of the song builds, euphoric drums and vocals that are raw with a melodic country twang and Americana feel. However, look a bit deeper and ‘Looking at the Past’ is a harrowing tale of poor life choices and leaving it too late to change. ..I'm a big fan of storytelling in music and Sunshine Riot have delivered something that is likable and danceable but also an insightful and thoughtful listen.” – Click Roll Boom
