Sundowner – We Chase The Waves

Posted on January 6, 2011 by | 3 Responses

Sundowner - We Chase The WavesI’m a Chris McCaughan fan, it’s true. I liked Tricky Dick, I liked The Broadways, I like The Lawrence Arms, and I liked the first Sundowner album. It’s because of this that even though I like the new Sundowner album We Chase The Waves, I feel a little disappointed by it. It’s not entirely unexpected though since I didn’t initially like the first Sundowner album as much as I do now. The songs are good (if unremarkable) and Chris’ performance is pretty strong, but something just seems to be missing and I’m not sure what it is. Yeah, it just sorta sounds like Four One Five Two part two with the same forlorn longing and loneliness permeating the album, but that isn’t a bad thing. Chris’ ragged and imperfect vocals fit better alongside Brendan’s in The Lawrence Arms instead of here with mainly just an acoustic guitar for accompaniment, but the yearning in his voice is more apparent here on We Chase The Waves. Good but not great (yet!), but (really) what Cub fan doesn’t love “Tinker To Evers To Chance?” I’ll guarantee that I like this one more as time goes by… and I think that time might be now. Yes, this is a good one. Out now on Asian Man Records.

MP3:
Sundowner - As The Crow Flies
Sundowner - Baseball's Sad Lexicon

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3 Responses

  1. Brendan January 12, 2011 at 11:29 PM |

    Great sundowner cover here:

  2. Dan January 21, 2011 at 12:31 PM |

    “…but the yearning in his voice is more apparent here…”
    ^Very true. This one took a bit to grow on me. I really didn’t expect it to be so stripped down. That being said, after a couple spins, it definitely took hold. I wouldn’t say its as good as 4152, but it certainly holds its own.

    Can we (as commentators) request certain types of reviews? I see way back in the ‘History of Chicago punk…” etc subset, you did a little piece on Apocalypse Hoboken. As someone who isn’t anywhere near Chicago (Florida), and a few years too late; could you do a little piece on them.

    I’ve been digging all their stuff lately, but theres a lot to sift through. Cheers.

  3. Trevor K January 10, 2012 at 4:54 PM |

    What do you think of it now? This album really grew on me. I didn’t like it as much at first and was slightly disappointed as well, but now i like it a lot. “Jewel of the midwest” and “What Beadied said” are great songs and the rest are catchy once you know them.

    I will say though that TLA as a whole is one of the best things to happen to music.

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