Sunwatchers

New York free-jazz outfit Sunwatch
Despite (perhaps) being the band’s most accessible & melodic work to date, New York quartet Sunwatchers‘ fourth album arrives in a flurry of notes with the buzzing hum of “Sunwatchers vs. Tooth Decay”; the title referencing a 1976 album featuring athlete and activist Muhammad Ali. A cheeky nod to be sure, but laced with the utmost reverence.
This attitude sums up Sunwatchers’ aesthetic in a nutshell; the acknowledgement (typically via the band’s irreverent song titles or album art) that the things in life we should take seriously are better faced and understood when disarmed by a wink or nudge. The band may cloak their fiery activism in a jester’s outfit, but it does nothing to dull the force of their attack.
Previous praise:
“Seditious psych-jazz-rock, taking in febrile noise freakouts, Alice Coltrane covers and samples of a yawning iceberg.” – Uncut
“A work that’s both thrillingly out there and attractively melodic at the same time… Here and elsewhere, Sunwatchers come over like the snotty, whipsmart progeny of Zappa’s Hot Rats” – Shindig!, 4/5
“Three albums down and the New York-based instrumental quartet show no sign of running out of ideas or slowing down… They combine free jazz, spiky psychedelia, punk and noise rock [and] pull off this righteous fusion with aplomb… An infectious slice of sax-punk” – Record Collector, 4/5
“A soaring, unrepentantly joyful jazz-punk romp” – Total Guitar