"the cobblestone streets, lit up by neon signs"
Oh wow, just listen to the dreamy Main Street by Philadelphia, PA's romance wave outfit Suburban Living and you will be embraced right away. Young kids will get "it" independent of having lived in the 80's because the synth driven lush and evocative sound will always take and break hearts (forever) but, maybe, those of us who were around during that time, might get it more. It is cliche to bring up the John Hughes' films and that sublime redhead from that era but the heart crushing sounds of dreamy indie pop bands (many precursors to shoe gaze) like The Cure or Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark were unabashedly dreamy and romantic. Suburban Living inhabits that same tone, same feeling with new edges. The sound is time transportive and maybe that is one of the key points as illustrated by guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Wesley Bunch:
"I've always dreamt of being born in a different era. I walk down city streets and my mind constantly wanders. I dream of what architecture, people, cars, etc would of looked like in the exact place I'm standing at that moment. I'm lucky to live in Philadelphia where the history is abundant, but sometimes these thoughts can be distractingly haunting. When I wrote 'Main Street,' I wanted it to be a tribute to what I like to call 'Anytown, Everywhere.'
My favorite Main Street is the one with the cobblestone streets, lit up by neon signs. If you're like me, you know to skip the Wikipedia page of whatever town you're in and hit Main Street for the answers you're looking for. Skip rocks by the water, drink with the locals, watch the steam from the sewer rise into the air. In these moments I don't care what year it is. I'm lost on Main Street."
These are difficult times and being transported to other places in your hearts and minds is comforting and feels so good.
Suburban Living is Wesley Bunch (vox, guitar), Chris Radwanski (guitar, keys), Mike Cammarata (drums), and Peter Pantina (bass).
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
Suburban Living started in Virginia Beach in 2012, but guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Wesley Bunch has come a long way since. In 2015, PaperCup Music released the band’s self-titled debut album, and Bunch relocated to Philadelphia. There, he added Chris Radwanski (guitar, keys), Mike Cammarata (drums), and Peter Pantina (bass) to his lineup. The next year, the four-piece recorded Almost Paradise (6131 Records) with Jeff Zeigler (Nothing, Kurt Vile, The War on Drugs). So why have three-plus years passed between then and the band’s third album, How to Be Human?
“I never thought it was going to come out,” Bunch says. That’s because, although he wrote the LP over two years ago, a house fire on New Year’s Eve 2018 (shortly after tours with Nothing and Hellogoodbye) changed everything. “My whole life went on hold,” he says.
When Bunch eventually resettled, he took recording cues from his three-month stint touring as bassist for the legendary shoegaze band Swirlies, whose members encouraged him to record digital instruments at home. He then completed How to Be Human at Brian Dale Allen Strouse’s home studio in New Hope, PA and Diamond City Studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Finally, he inked a deal with EggHunt Records, a Virginia label best known for discovering Lucy Dacus.
“I’d never really had songs that told stories before,” he says, noting that the album’s lush, ‘80s-inspired lead single “Main Street” is “just a story about every city.” Atop the Gothic, Cure-esque roar of “Glow” and the alternately sparkling and scything new wave of “Dirt,” Bunch sings about common poisons, the former about ruinous substance addiction and the latter about excising toxic people. If any of the aliens in the album artwork’s UFO heard these songs, they’d surely know How to Be Human—a lesson that eight years of making music certainly qualifies Bunch to teach.
In early 2015, on the heels of touring throughout the U.S. and Japan, Suburban Living began writing what would become the band's sophomore full length, "Almost Paradise." During this time, a chance meeting with Philadelphia-based engineer Jeff Zeigler (The War on Drugs, Kurt Vile, Nothing) led to Zeigler offering to work with the band on their next recording. "Working with Jeff was pretty amazing. I’d never worked with an engineer that knew exactly how I wanted something to sound without me having to express it." explains Bunch. The support of Zeigler, as well as his bandmates, equipped Bunch to spearhead undeniably the best Suburban Living material to date.
Suburban Living, Philadelphia, post punk, new wave tones, synth pop, electro pop, alternative pop, romance wave
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