Cryin' Sunstroke

Sunstroke is one of those bands that seems to enjoy appealing to the record collectors. Special covers that are cool and creative, and stupidly low numbers for pressings... that shit occasionally tempts me into wanting to chase some of those variants. Earlier this year it got me.

The Cryin' Wolves single is a one sided lathe cut 7 inch and was limited to 50... 30 on clear and 20 on black. It only contains the one song, so if you are only here for the music, it probably isn't a great investment...but when I discovered that one was available on Discogs back in March, the collector in me was triggered and I quickly added it to my cart.

Such a great looking record, and I'm really glad that I was able to get my hands on one. Now if I could just have a copy of I Wanna Be Ignored fall into my lap, that would be great.

Sunstroke Daisies

I love Sunstroke but it drives me a little crazy that they keep only releasing one or two new songs each year. I need more than this. Give me something that I can sit with for 15 to 20 minutes.

The latest from Sunstroke is another two song 7 inch... one new song and one cover. Hell Of A Year For Daisies is such a great song, and it kills me that there isn't more. Sure the cover of By A Thread by Inside Out is cool as hell, but I'm not sure how many times I need to listen to it here. Maybe it would fit in nicely at the end of a 12 inch, but here with just one other song... I fear the cover is going to be a bit tiresome after a while.

175 pressed on yellow.

Despite my complaints of how little is offered here on this record for music, it is still well worth picking up. The songs are great and the gatefold 7 inch sleeve is really well done... plus a bunch of stickers thrown in from Sky Valley Records make this a great package.

There are a number of different pressings for this 7 inch... I think maybe there are seven colors in all... and I'd hoped that we were moving away from this kind of thing, but I guess there are still labels that want to bankrupt anyone that is interested in trying to collect all of them. I was content with just the one yellow copy that I'd picked up, but once I saw that the REV exclusive color went all in with a special cover, of course I had to grab one of those as well.

115 pressed on blue vinyl with an excellent rip of the design from the Inside Out 7 inch.

Dedicated To Frank

I've really enjoyed Sunstroke since I checked out their first record back in 2018. It seemed that they were flying under the radar for a while, but then they had a couple of limited lathe cut records come out during covid that proved to be difficult to get ahold of... and then Revelation is releasing their latest record this year, so hopefully people are paying attention now. Band is so good.

In addition to the lathe cut records for I Wanna Be Ignored and Cryin Wolves I thought that I'd had a hard time getting my hands on the Frank 7 inch as well. However, looking at discogs there are a stupid amount of colored vinyl options for this record, so I probably don't know what I'm talking about... but in any case, when I recently saw the 7 inch available through Sky Valley I quickly grabbed one.

The song Frank is dedicated to Frank "Skip" Candelori of Turning Point fame... yeah, I guess he was in a few other bands as well, but I've never bothered with anything beyond TP... but the b-side here is a cover of a Memorial Day song, and apparently Skip sang for that band as well. The whole package here is well done.

Blue vinyl limited to 115.

Sun Blue

Bent Blue was one of my favorite discoveries in 2022. There was something about that band that hit me in a big way and I listened to their two records a lot throughout last year. So yeah, I was definitely on board for something new from the band this year.

This split 7 inch between Bent Blue and Sunstroke doesn't offer a lot, since it is only one new song plus a cover from each, but I'll take it. Fuck, the new Bent Blue song is so good. I hope the band gives us more because I'm not done with them. I've always appreciated Sunstroke and their very strong influence from the DC Revolution Summer style, so these two bands compliment each other very well. Perfect match for a split release.

I don't collect records for either band, but when preorders went up, I still felt the need to buy both colored vinyl options that were available. Both colors limited to 150 each.

Sunstroke Blooms

I've been busting my ass on posts this month, and I'm still going to come up short in getting all the new releases up on the blog before close out 2019. I've discovered a flood of new 2019 records during the last few months, and sticking to my "one post a day" rule, I just couldn't get caught up here. As of right now, I think that I'll have about seven posts in January for records that were released this year, and as dumb as it sounds, it bothers me. Oh well, just need to dial back that OCD.

One of the records that seemed to come out of nowhere at the end of the year was the new 12 inch from Sunstroke. The band surprised me last year with the Second Floor/Seven 12 inch, and they keep me hooked with Bloom At Night. Comparisons will still be made to that Revolution Summer sound, and the Dag Nasty cover on the record helps cement that, but Sunstroke aren't immediately comparable to any one band. They just seem to do their own thing, and they do it very well.

It's crazy how small the pressings are for Sunstroke records. The Second Floor/Seven 12 inch that I picked up last year was limited to 88, and there were only 80 pressed on transparent blue vinyl for Bloom At Night. Given the small pressing numbers, how is still available in the New Morality store? Is this band not blowing up like I would expect them to be?

Revolution Sunstroke

2018 was shaping up to be a good year for hardcore records, and surprisingly, I found myself in an adventurous mood and looking to check out something new. Someone that I follow on Instagram posted a picture of a record for a band named Sunstroke, calling it a record of the year contender, so I decided to follow up and check it out.

Comparisons were being made about the Sunstroke record having that Revolution Summer sound, and I guess that is valid, but to my ears, it reminds me more of those early to mid-90's years...when hardcore bands seemed to be following their own path and making their own sounds.

There have been a few bands that are a bit off my beaten path, but all falling into that similar style, that have popped up on my radar recently. Future Waves haven't seen a vinyl release, and the Moonkisser 12 inch sold out before I even knew it existed, so I was happy to grab a physical copy of this new Sunstroke record. One out of three...for now.

88 pressed on gold vinyl.