Sundowner have just released their third studio album Neon Fiction with none other than Fat Mike’s (NOFX) independent San Francisco-based record label Fat Wreck Chords.
Sundowner (solo side project of The Lawrence Arms guitarist, songwriter, and co-frontman Chris McCaughan) is an acoustic project of Chris’s which also features Jenny Choi, Neil Hennessy, and Eli Caterer.
The band released their debut album, Four, One, Five, Two with Chris’s home turf, Windy Chicago-based label Red Scare Records in 2007 and their second album We Chase the Waves in 2010 with Northern California-based label Asian Man Records. But now, the band calls Los Angeles and Fat Wreck Chords its’ home.
“I just feel fortunate that Fat picked up the record and was willing to do it. It’s a really cool opportunity for me and I want to do my part to get this record out there. I really believe in it and I’m proud of it.†– Chris.
Just to give some insight as to how this whole Sundowner/Fat smittening/signing began – Some of the Fat crew saw one of Chris’s solo performances at a San Francisco club called Bottom of the Hill. Digging his act, they asked to hear the final studio mixes. Lo and behold, a few weeks later, Chris received an email from the label saying that they loved what they heard, and that Fat wanted to sign them.
Right place, perfect timing with the aid of some audibly pleasing acoustic tracks? I think so.
When I think of neon, it’s safe to say I definitely think “city life†(being the Los Angelian that I am) and fictional, meaning not real or imaginary. How does a name as such come about?
“I like the way it sounds and I think it kind of illustrates a lot of the themes and vibes. A lot of the record is about living in the city, this is going to sound ridiculous, but being a human in the city environment, you know? Buildings and lights and I think a lot of the songs I’ve written, even for the Lawrence Arms, over the years kind of come from that sensory place so that is kind of what made me arrive at that title…It’s about a lot of things, it’s about hitting a certain transition in your life where you’re willing to let go of a lot of things.
It’s certainly about living in the city and some of it’s about coming to terms with leaving certain geographies in your life…overall the record is like a self-actualization record for me, I feel like I’ve been trying to make this record for a long time.†–Chris
Check SUNDOWNER Out:
09/07/13 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill record release show
09/20/13 Normal, IL at Firehouse Pizza
09/21/13 Chicago, IL at Beat Kitchen NEON FICTION Record Release
09/24/13 Moline (Quad Cities/Iowa), IL at Bier Stube
09/26/13 Cleveland, OH at Now That’s Class
09/27/13 Detroit, MI at Small’s
NEON FICTION Tracklist:
01 – Cemetery West
02 – My Beautiful Ruins
03 – Concrete Shoes
04 – We Drift Eternal
05 – Grey on Grey
06 – Life in the Embers
07 – Origins
08 – Paper Rose City
09 – Poet of Trash
10 – Wildfires
