Sweet Apple’s Return
If 2016 was the year that the world was sent into a tailspin, 2017 is all about supergroups releasing records. This particular supergroup — Sweet Apple — features the talents of John Petkovic and Tim Parnin from Cobra Verde, Dave Sweetapple from Witch, and J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr., who joined forces in 2010. Their newest release, Sing the Night in Sorrow, combines all the best strengths from each musician and fuses them together for a musically cohesive record.
Sweet Apple’s sound can best be described as garage rock and post-punk. It is the type of noise created that will have any Ty Segall or Black Lips fans dripping with excitement, and all with the added benefit of four insanely talented musicians. The talent, however, does not stop there. The band, already inundated with indie legends, decided to throw a few more artists into the mix. The album incorporates contributions from music legends Rachel Haden, Robert Pollard, Doug Gillard and Mark Lanegan. With this seemingly unending stream of talent, Sweet Apple have produced a record filled with genius and unforgettable tunes.
The album explodes into sound with “(My Head Is Stuck in the) Traffic.” It is a track filled with fuzzy guitars and falsetto harmonies, which catapult the record into a noisy, garage rock paradise. On “World I’m Gonna Leave You,” the listener is treated to the talents of Mark Lanegan and Robert Pollard. “Thank You,” along with the first song, is the only track on the album to not feature collaborations from other musicians. It starts with an infectious, fuzzy guitar before it is showered with vocals and harmonies. The three songs with Rachel Haden, “A Girl and a Gun,” “Summer’s Gone” and “Crying in the Clouds,” are injected with a feminine artfulness shrouded in whimsical instrumentation. Tracks with Doug Gillard, on the other hand, like “You Don’t Belong to Me,” “She Wants to Run” and “Candles in the Sun,” have an almost hair metal quality to them and are very similar in sound to his own band, Nada Surf. The last song with Robert Pollard, “Everyone’s Leaving,” is the type of moody end that is fitting for both this album, as well as a ’90s movie.
While it may only be ten songs, Sing the Night in Sorrow does not shy away from noise, lyrics and talent. It fills the time with all the regalia one would hope from a supergroup and leaves the listener with an overwhelming feeling of contentedness.
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