The Dirty Three, Sonic Youth, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Low, Cat Power, Bjork, Bob Dylan, Broken Social Scene, Toe, Radiohead, Jim O’Rourke, Wilco, Patti Smith & Kevin Shields, The Flaming Lips, PJ Harvey, Bloc Party, Jeff Buckley, The Stooges, TV On The Radio
Tom Ferson, Alister Hill, Taku Kimura and singer Robert Irish named themselves after a badge they found on an old jacket. Sooners turned out to be settlers who entered the ‘Unassigned Lands’ of Oklahoma, which was a bit of a coincidence, since the band were already exploring a union of early 90s alternative rock with the raw emotion of folk music. Their sound has attracted comparisons to artists like The Dirty Three and The National.
Written over a month-long stint in Tokyo, their first EP, Stories of Towns and Cities was recorded at The Mattress Factory in Sydney. It invokes a collection of fictional characters living in the 1940s, dealing with the unexpected breakdown of various social and political institutions.
PRESS ON OUR DEBUT EP, 'STORIES OF TOWNS & CITIES' AND LIVE SHOWS
"At times [Sooners] are reminiscent of early Mogwai (Come On Die Young) but Rob’s low register voice adds that sweet folk element that has made bands like Jack Ladder, The National and Nick Cave so popular ... Their live performances reflect how much they have rehearsed over the past year. Nothing from the EP is lost and, if anything, their songs gain that extra amount dizzying reverb that you could only get from being confined within a small space. It seems that Sooners are going in all the right directions." - Max Mison, Throw Shapes (click here for the full-length feature)
"The five tracks here suggest nothing more than a band blessed with a complete uniformity of vision ... [Sooners debut EP] ‘Stories Of Towns and Cities’ suggests one thing insistently - all that Sin City sun only helps Sooners see the decay more clearly. So colour me as eagerly anticipating their next move. There are repeat signs of greatness here." - JP Hammond, Mess+Noise (click here for full length review)
"Sooners took their instruments and hopped back into the 1940s, [and] spawned a new world of hope crushed beneath institutional collapse ... Take this trip into worlds that are old and yet new, and perhaps you will tear away your own trinkets of times gone by." - Jimmy Dalton, Concrete Playground (click here for full length article)
Sooners - Stories of Towns & Cities
1 Rover Boys Express 2 In Earnest 3 For Me, for You 4 Used & Seconds 5 Song for Moab
Buy our new EP, 'Stories of Towns & Cities'! Get it on... ...or you can order a hard copy by sending us a message.
X Final Australian Show before US Tour Sandringham Hotel, Friday May 14, 2010. With Special Guests The Holy Soul and Platinum Brunette. Tickets available through Moshtix www.moshtix.com.au/event.aspx?id=36678
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