Sonny & the Sunsets' Unique Brand of Busted Beach Pop

As much as I push myself to listen to new and different kinds of music, I am a hopeless sucker for catchy pop tunes. I think that's why I fell in love with Sonny & the Sunsets almost instantly: the songs of the San Francisco-based band headed by mastermind Sonny Smith are undeniably pop in the classic bubblegum sense.

However, Sonny's doowop-inspired sound is tinged with a surreal, imaginative weirdness-- a type of music that the band dubs "busted beach pop." He expertly juxtaposes the sincerity and earnestness of 50s pop with unconventional vocal intonations and wacky lyrics. In the middle of "Love Among Social Animals" (from 2010's Tomorrow's Alright) for instance, Sonny talk-sings along with the female vocalist, shading what would otherwise be a saccharine harmony with dissonance. At one point, he breaks from the pleasant romp to converse with an alien:

I just started listening to Sonny's newest album, Longtime Companion. A country album through and through, Longtime Companion is a departure from the doowop ditties of the band's first two records, rife with twangy guitar and plucky bass. Inspired by a break-up, Sonny's lyrics are earnest and heartfelt. He's not a total sad sack though: he glibly delivers pun after pun while channeling Johnny Cash in "Year of the Cock" (which is "hard, hard as can be"):



While Sonny's music draws obvious comparisons to the Beach Boys and the Bakersfield sound, his influences encompass more than just California-based musicians. He appropriates elements of Lou Reed's talk-singing, Ray Davies' songwriting, and most recently, the twang of Waylon Jennings without sounding like any one of them or anyone else in particular.

Sonny & the Sunsets play tonight at Johnny D's in Somerville.