SUN GODS IN EXILE
''BLACK LIGHT, WHITE LINES''
JUNE 9 2009
45:53
1. Eye For An Eye /3:59
2. Heaven Help Us All /3:33
3. The Gripper /3:43
4. Rise Up /3:58
5. Mexico /3:14
6. Black Light White Lines /4:17
7. Hellwell /4:46
8. Black Magic /5:45
9. Turbo Fire /4:52
10. 495 /7:31
Anthony D'agostino /Guitar
Benny Grotto /Vocals (Background)
JL /Guitar (Bass)
Johnny Kennedy /Drums
Dave Unger /Keyboards
REVIEW
by Eduardo Rivadavia
The fact that Black Light, White Lines, the debut album from Portland, ME's Sun Gods in Exile, emerged barely one year after the band's inception says something, not only about the group's immediate and strong impression upon Small Stone, the record label that signed it, but also about the importance of feeling over calculation, as exemplified by the group's spontaneous classic rock songwriting. Opener "Eye for an Eye," for example, sounds like Cheap Trick's "Hot Love" shot through with raging distortion, and it's not even as interesting as subsequent offerings like "Heaven Help Us All" and "The Gripper," which feature slower seductive grooves and fuzz-drenched lysergic guitar solos. Inconsistency occasionally trips up the album's progress along the way, however, as rather mundane, thrown-together numbers like "Rise Up," "Mexico," and the unusually foreboding title track battle for space with more inspired fare like the Southern rockers "Hellwell" and "495" (not bad for a band from Maine!), plus the organ-enhanced "Black Magic." To be fair, the casual jam feel of those weaker cuts also has a certain appeal, and as evidenced by another album standout, the AC/DC-inspired hard rock scorcher "Turbo Fire" (very reminiscent of "Riff Raff"), Sun Gods in Exile are perfectly capable of composing a tightly wound, fully focused -- and explosive -- single, if they so wish. Which they may think about doing more of next time around, but not if it's at the expense of that spontaneous charm -- that's the sort of quality that epitomizes great rock & roll, and which happens to be in short demand nowadays.
BIOGRAPHY
by Eduardo Rivadavia
Portland, ME's Sun Gods in Exile formed in 2008 thanks to the bandmembers' shared passion for raw-as-sushi, fuzz-laden, classic hard rock (think: AC/DC, the Four Horsemen, Novadriver, etc.), making it almost inevitable that they'd wind up on Detroit's likeminded Small Stone Records. Comprised of vocalist and guitarist Adam Hitchcock, guitarist Tony D'Agostino (ex-Cortez), bassist JL (previously of Ocean), and drummer Johnny Kennedy, Sun Gods in Exile recorded their debut album, Black Light, White Lines, at Mad Oak Studios in Allston, MA, and were soon touring in support of its release in early 2009.
DoWnLoAd
''BLACK LIGHT, WHITE LINES''
JUNE 9 2009
45:53
1. Eye For An Eye /3:59
2. Heaven Help Us All /3:33
3. The Gripper /3:43
4. Rise Up /3:58
5. Mexico /3:14
6. Black Light White Lines /4:17
7. Hellwell /4:46
8. Black Magic /5:45
9. Turbo Fire /4:52
10. 495 /7:31
Anthony D'agostino /Guitar
Benny Grotto /Vocals (Background)
JL /Guitar (Bass)
Johnny Kennedy /Drums
Dave Unger /Keyboards
REVIEW
by Eduardo Rivadavia
The fact that Black Light, White Lines, the debut album from Portland, ME's Sun Gods in Exile, emerged barely one year after the band's inception says something, not only about the group's immediate and strong impression upon Small Stone, the record label that signed it, but also about the importance of feeling over calculation, as exemplified by the group's spontaneous classic rock songwriting. Opener "Eye for an Eye," for example, sounds like Cheap Trick's "Hot Love" shot through with raging distortion, and it's not even as interesting as subsequent offerings like "Heaven Help Us All" and "The Gripper," which feature slower seductive grooves and fuzz-drenched lysergic guitar solos. Inconsistency occasionally trips up the album's progress along the way, however, as rather mundane, thrown-together numbers like "Rise Up," "Mexico," and the unusually foreboding title track battle for space with more inspired fare like the Southern rockers "Hellwell" and "495" (not bad for a band from Maine!), plus the organ-enhanced "Black Magic." To be fair, the casual jam feel of those weaker cuts also has a certain appeal, and as evidenced by another album standout, the AC/DC-inspired hard rock scorcher "Turbo Fire" (very reminiscent of "Riff Raff"), Sun Gods in Exile are perfectly capable of composing a tightly wound, fully focused -- and explosive -- single, if they so wish. Which they may think about doing more of next time around, but not if it's at the expense of that spontaneous charm -- that's the sort of quality that epitomizes great rock & roll, and which happens to be in short demand nowadays.
BIOGRAPHY
by Eduardo Rivadavia
Portland, ME's Sun Gods in Exile formed in 2008 thanks to the bandmembers' shared passion for raw-as-sushi, fuzz-laden, classic hard rock (think: AC/DC, the Four Horsemen, Novadriver, etc.), making it almost inevitable that they'd wind up on Detroit's likeminded Small Stone Records. Comprised of vocalist and guitarist Adam Hitchcock, guitarist Tony D'Agostino (ex-Cortez), bassist JL (previously of Ocean), and drummer Johnny Kennedy, Sun Gods in Exile recorded their debut album, Black Light, White Lines, at Mad Oak Studios in Allston, MA, and were soon touring in support of its release in early 2009.
DoWnLoAd
