Sonny Smith (Sonny & the Sunsets) has written a monologue, an hour long story, called SEES ALL KNOWS ALL. A tale of LOVE, SEX, DRUGS, SPACESHIPS, ROMANCE, HALLUCINATIONS, BITTER TEARS and CHAMPAGNE. A story set in a fast-disappearing San Francisco. A bohemian quarter-life crisis (in six parts) told by a man who never had anything to gamble with, but his life. As Sonny put it “Sort of a Spalding Gray typa thing if Spalding Gray had a band and wasn’t himself but was me.”
Sonny premiered SEES ALL KNOWS ALL live with a band at The Lost Church in San Francisco. The run lasted five nights and each night featured a different musical guest: Kelley Stoltz, Tim Cohen (Fresh & Onlys / Magic Trick), Kyle Field (Little Wings), Alexi Glickman (Sandy’s), & Sun Foot (Chris Johanson). It was very much a San Francisco thing. A nod, perhaps, to both Eggers and Ferlinghetti. Indeed, excerpts from this story have been published in San Francisco’s reknown literature, arts, and culture magazine, The Believer.
We made a little video trailer for the LP and you can check that out along with an album chapter all about an Ayahuaska trip to nowhere at FLOOD MAGAZINE.
Narrated by Smith, this audio recording of SEES ALL KNOWS ALL features sounds made by a talented group of local musicians including Kelley Stoltz, Shayde Sartin, Rusty Miller, James Finch, Germán Carracosca, Jordi Llobet, and Sonny himself. The result is a Joe Frank meets Michael Hurley meets R. Crumb production: a dry, witty, autobiographical look at the meaning(s) of life from an underdog with deep nostalgia for America’s lost folk culture and a kinship with the marginalized. Perhaps you saw one of the live performances; or maybe you are familiar with Sonny’s stories via the tiny comic books stashed in his early vinyl releases… but you probably have never heard him try to pronounce “Panaderia”. So, light a fire/joint, get comfortable and lose yourself in a man’s attempt to find himself; or at least, exert a shred of control over his own destiny.
SEES ALL KNOWS ALL is limited to 300 blue powder (the stuff of the universe) splattered LPs via Empty Cellar Records. Each LP is packaged in a deluxe old-style linen jacket and features artwork by Bay Area greats: Chris Johanson, Shayde Sartin, and Shannon Shaw (Shannon & The Clams).
The Cairo Gang:
7.31 – San Francisco, CA (solo) @ The Chapel %
8.3 – Felton, CA (solo) @ Don Quixote’s %
8.8 – Los Angeles, CA (solo) @ El Cid w/ Jessica Tonder, and Paz Lechantin
8.21 – Los Angeles, Ca (solo) @ Holy Grounds(el sereno) w/ Will Ivy, and Shannon Lay
9.05 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios $
9.07 – Vancouver BC @ Biltmore Cabaret $
9.10 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club $
9.11 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon $
9.12 – Ames, IA @ Maximum Ames Music Festival $
9.14 – Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog #$
9.15 – Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place#
9.16 – Toronto, ON @ Adelaide Hall #$
9.17 – Montreal, QC @ Pop Montreal at Fairmount #$
9.18 – Allston MA @ Great Scott #$
9.20 – Woodstock, NY @ Bearsville Theater #$
9.22 – Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall #$
9.26 – Portsmouth, NH – 3S Artpsace $
9.27 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s $
10.2 – Jackson, MS (solo) @ Duling Hall $
% with Ty Segall
$ with Mikal Cronin
# with Calvin Love
Tim Cohen:
7.26 – Makeout Room, San Francisco, CA
Cool Ghouls:
7.27 – SF at GAMH, Social Studies Record Release
8.07 – Portland at SMMR BMMR Fest
8.09 – Reno at Holland Show Space at Rainshadow *
8.10 – SF at Rickshaw Stop *
8.11 – LA at the Echo *
8.12 – San Diego at TBA *
9.17 – Oakland at Leo’s ^
9.18 – SF at Brick & Mortar ^
9.23 – Los Angeles, CA El Rey +
9.24 – Pioneertown Pappy + Harriets +
9.25 – Santa Ana, CA Constellation Room +
9.26 – San Diego, CA The Casbah +
9.27 – Las Vegas, NV Beauty Bar +
9.29 – Denver, CO Larimer Lounge +
10.01 – Dallas, TX Three Links +
10.02 – Austin, TX Saengerrunde Hall +
10.03 – San Antonio, TX TBD +
10.04 – Houston, TX Rudyard’s +
10.05 – New Orleans, LA Siberia +
10.06 – Atlanta, GA The Earl +
10.07 – Durham, NC The Pinhook +
10.08 – Asheville, NC Mothlight +
* with La Luz
^ with Natural Child
+ with Shannon & The Clams
Magic Trick:
9.01 – The Chapel, San Francisco, CA w/ Ducktails
Sonny & The Sunsets:
7.25 – Quiet Music Festival – Seattle, WA
7.26 – Quiet Music Festival (solo Sonny Smith) – Portland, OR
7.02 – High Sierra Music Festival – Quincy, CA
7.11 – Phono del Sol Music & Food Festival – San Francisco, CA
7.17 – Haymarket Whiskey Bar – Louisville, KY $
7.18 – The Mothlight, Asheville – NC
7.19 – Ocean Grill and Tiki Bar – Carolina Beach, NC $
7.21 – Black Cat (backstage), Washington, DC $
7.22 – Baby’s All Right – Brooklyn NY $
7.23 – The Press Room – Portsmouth, NH $
7.24 – Mohawk Place – Buffalo, NY $
7.25 – The Silver Dollar – Toronto, Canada
7.26 – Mo Pop Festival @ Riverside Park – Detroit, MI
7.27 – BEAT KITCHEN – Chicago, IL
7.31 – Pickathon Festival – Happy Valley, OR
8.01 – Pickathon Festival – Happy Valley, OR
8.02 – Pickathon Festival – Happy Valley, OR
9.02 – dB’s – Utrecht, Netherlands
9.03 – Merelyn – Nijmegen, Netherlands
9.04 – Misty Fields Festival – Heusden, Netherlands
9.05 – Into The Great Wide Open – Vlieland, Netherlands
9.06 – End of the Road – Salisbury, United Kingdom
9.07 – Shacklewell Arms – London, United Kingdom
9.08 – Espace B – Paris, France
9.09 – Le Troc Cafe – Strasbourg, France
9.10 – La Batie Festival @ La Parenthese – Nyon, Switzerland
9.11 – Treppenhaus – Rorschach, Switzerland
9.12 – City Club – Augsburg, Germany
9.14 – Basement Club – Prague, Czech Republic
9.15 – ACUD – Berlin, Germany
9.16 – Loppen – Copenhagen, Denmark
9.17 – Geronimos FGT – Stockholm, Sweden
9.18 – Revolver – Oslo, Norway
9.19 – Pustervik – Gothenburg, Sweden
Listen to their new track "Play It Again Dick" via Gorilla vs. Bear
"It’s arguably their best work yet, full of the kind of palpable longing and heartbreak and regret that few bands express in such a devastating, visceral manner." — Gorilla vs Bear
"there’s a certain, almost defiant (or sarcastic) optimism coming through, a joyful carelessness that can only be expressed by someone who’s experienced pain and sorrow but still refuses to give in." — No Fear of Pop
"The Sandwitches are a band straight out of a David Lynch film. Wide eyed beauties, hardened against the cold San Francisco air, voices bellowing like the capricious winds, sometimes low and meandering, sometimes high and haunting. Roxanne Young's drums ramble through song after song with a strange, unpredictable and perfect lightness, while near-moans and sky-high melodies collide in a soundtrack to the end of the world. Songs on this record deal with the most playful moments in a new love, the most charming parts of decay, the heart wrenching feeling of impending doom at the dawning of something new. This record is a seamless follow up to their previous release, Mrs. Jones' Cookies, a record teeming with, for the most part, a spirit possessed by possibility; pure and potent potential. Our Toast is a causal record, the beautiful, raw come down. The spell has been broken and this new batch of songs lingers in the space between. The Sandwitches took songs born of universal anguish to create a record blooming with whimsical notes on a life that’s changing chapters." – Emily Rose (Ty Segall Band)
Painting by Deirdre White
Recorded by Kelley Stoltz and mastered by Mikey Young, Our toast, by The Sandwitches, is available on LP/CD/Digital via Empty Cellar Records and Revolver USA. The LP edition is packaged in a deluxe gold-foil stamped jacket featuring artwork by Deirdre White and The Sandwitches. The first pressing will include a limited edition run of 200 LPs in decadent "oxblood"vinyl.
As the last days of summer fall off the calendar, California – as is custom – has fallen under a great wave of wildfire. We peek over our sunglasses at the looming forest, swept asunder by nature’s fury. We cast our glance to the city; and indeed, the Mission is engulfed in flames. We close our eyes, and lo! Projected onto our meager hungry brains, it is A Swirling Fire Burning Through the Rye, the brand new LP from SF’s Cool Ghouls!
We, you, and I have been waiting a good many months for the boys to pull through with another foot-stomping, tension-melting, inner-eye blinking masterpiece, and it has finally arrived, mixed, re-mixed, mixed again, mastered and ready to find purpose, glistening on your turntable. This new album, recorded by the notorious Sonny Smith and mixed by Mikey Young (Total Control, Eddy Current Suppression Ring), delivers on all the expected levels, and then some. The songwriting has matured, the harmonies have grown tighter, and the songs are imbued with a new sense of sonic adventure. Infectious and utterly compelling, A Swirling Fire will lay waste to mere saplings of the post-digital age. This is real rock and roll!!! Available 11/11 (wish day) on limited (300 copies) deluxe swirling fire-colored vinyl from Empty Cellar and on cassette from Burger Records. Pre-order yours here. And… if you still have doubts, check out lead single “The Mile”, which debuted over at Noisey (Vice):
“On “The Mile,” the first single from A Swirling Fire Burning Through The Rye, the SF band touch on classic 60s rock like The Byrds, CSNY, and more, astonishing their way through multi-part harmonies on the Sonny Smith-recorded (Sonny & the Sunsets), Mikey-Young-mixed (Total Control, ECSR) track.” — Noisey (Vice)
Tracklist:
1. And It Grows
2. The Mile
3. What A Dream I Had
4. Orange Light
5. Insight
6. Get A Feelin’
7. Across The River
8. Reelin’
9. New Moon
10. Sweet rain
Praise For Cool Ghouls:
“The San Francisco-based quartet blends psychedelic and upbeat into their rhythms and vocals to produce a sound that’s wholly unique. And we love them for it.” — FILTER
“Their Tim Cohen-produced self-titled presents a group who has contributed to San Francisco’s indie rock fabric where the exhaled chord rhythms of yesterday ghost through the great tomorrow that never knows” — Impose Magazine
“Perfectly lo-fi without being a caricature, you can picture how well this song will go over as you look around and actually see green grass.” — KCRW
“Cool Ghouls’ eponymous album hit all the right buttons for spring around here, laying wide open and loose with the kind of breezy pop gems that feel good year after year.” — Raven Sings The Blues
“It is uncontrived and unapologetically filled with joy in the most refreshing way.” — The Bay Bridged
Bonnie “Prince” Billy & The Cairo Gang are at it again!
Empty Cellar is proud to announce the latest single by Bonnie “Prince” Billy and The Cairo Gang, “We Love Our Hole” b/w “I’ll be Alright”. This latest product of their fruitful collaboration finds Will Oldham and Emmett Kelly sitting barefoot on a sand dune, plucking the last rays of an Australian sunset from the sky. These two songs were recorded for “SPIRIT OF AKASHA”, a film/soundtrack celebrating 40 years of the classic 1971 Australian surf film “Morning of the Earth.”
“We Love Our Hole”, a warm and fuzzular take on the notorious Aussie localism, recalls the carefree back to earth acoustic jams on the original “Morning of the Earth” soundtrack. Twangy leads punctuate the bongo-driven tune (music by Kelly / lyrics by Oldham) exalting their hole… the kind of place you discover by following your bliss, “a cove where love is free”. Unbridled, the duo’s dueling voices find rare, compelling, moments of unison amidst rich harmonizing. The B-side, “I’ll be Alright”, is a stripped-down take of the Terry Hannagan song from the original soundtrack. Equally melancholy and reassuring, Hannagan’s meditation on the drag of modern life is dispensed thoughtfully by Oldham in his fearless, self-assured, voice. The recording as a whole finds Oldham and Kelly stepping confidently across the beach, fully trusting each other in these songs as only seasoned brothers can.
This 7” vinyl record comes packaged in a high-gloss photographic jacket featuring a golden still by “SPIRIT OF AKASHA” filmmaker Andrew Kidman. Limited to a single pressing of 1000 copies, this release is a perfect assurance that summer is coming through the clouds, and its music positively sparkles like a sun-lit sea. Bonus points: Each 7” comes with a special fart-cloud sticker drawn by the great Nathaniel Russell that you can place in the wind of your favorite Surfer pic! Get yours HERE!
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