In case you missed this power pop masterpiece released at the tail end of summer, we’re here to fill you on Some Kind of Spectre by Sonny Falls.
Their debut full-length picks up right where their last EP There’s No Magic Left in this World left off with ten more catchy and introspective songs for your listening pleasure.
The album’s opener “Easy To Lose” invites you in with a few heavy snare hits and layers of fuzzed out guitar melodies. The acoustic break halfway through brings the song down for a moment—just enough time to soak in Ryan “Hoagie” Wesley Ensley’s signature vocal delivery.
“Flies” has a guitar bit that practically rips the song to shreds raising up the tempo in its wake and transforming the song into another world. Deeper into Side A of the LP sits “Towards No One” (a song with a matching music video that premiered right here on MWA) an instant standout that smacks you over the head with a lush fanfare of trumpet, saxophone, cello, and violin that sit atop an already massive wall of guitars.
The melancholic lyrics of “Kid in a Car” spill a myriad of tales that will probably ring a bell or two and bring back a few of your own memories (maybe not the best ones). Despite its name, “Down in that Dark” is a raucously upbeat tune with some incredibly busy guitars that somehow never seem to get in the way of each other but instead flow in and out like melodic waves of sound.
For you true ’90s fans, there’s the dark grunge rock sound of “Nothing Coming”—a slow burning ode to the Chicago lake shore that is a bit of departure from the band’s usual power pop riffs and upbeat compositions.
“Head on Display” is an ambitious 5 1/2 minute epic that builds itself up from sparse and meticulously picked guitar riffs to lush layers of horns, piano, and strings. By the end of it you may not even be sure you’re listening to the same album—and I mean that in the best way possible.
Closing the album is a lo-fi acoustic ballad that reminds us of the band’s love of bands like Big Star and The Replacements. “The Last Time You Called” is Sonny Falls stripped down to its roots, no distortion, no fuzz, just a few guitars and voices in a room.
For fans of authentic, meaningful songwriting and blistering guitar rock. On Spectre, Sonny Falls checks all the boxes and gets things right. The album is gorgeously produced but the talent of the band mixed with the gorgeous horn and string arrangements are what really set it apart from all those cliche pop rock tropes.
Sonny Falls is Calvin Schaller on drums, Jeff Perlman on bass, Anthony Santoro on lead guitar, and Ryan “Hoagie” Wesley Ensley on lead vocals and guitar. The album was recorded and mixed by Michael Macdonald at Shirk Studios and Pallet Sound and mastered by Collin Jordan.
You can stream the full album on Spotify and pick up Some Kind of Spectre on vinyl and digital formats via Sooper Records or the group’s bandcamp page.