Catch the Summer's Last Wave With 'Tracks,' the Debut Album From the Evening Sons

From seaside resort town of Brighton comes a blast of sun-soaked power pop.

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What comes to mind when you think of surf culture?

Most of you will think of locales like Hawaii or Southern California. Maybe it’s The Beach Boys, Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer, or Keanu Reeves telling Patrick Swayze “Via con Dios” before (three-decade-old spoiler warning) Swayze’s Bohdi surfs to his death at the end of Point Break.

One of the last places my Yankee brain goes is Brighton Beach, the Coney Island of the UK. When I visited the seaside resort town over twenty years ago, the rain fell at a steady clip from the grey heavens, and forget sand - feel the stones between yer toes. Even Sunny California™ requires a wet suit most of the time, so cruising the waves of the English Channel doesn’t sound like my favorite day (I’m more of a cold plunge at the hot springs kinda guy).

Here we are, though, with Tracks, the debut album from The Evening Sons, who defy the drizzle-centric stereotypes of Brighton with sun-drenched power chords and harmonies for another fantastic power pop record in a year of excellent power pop. This shouldn’t come as a surprise when noting The Evening Sons are another great signing for Curation Records, who have done an amazing job with expanding outside of their Los Angeles base the past two years and are now sharing their aural rays with England.

The Evening Sons hit my radar in 2021 when they released three catchy singles in “Summer Rain,” “Morning Serenade,” and “Nuthin’ Left To Say,” with the first two ending up on Tracks. “Morning Serenade,” in particular, is an excellent opener, as The Evening Sons cite Dinosaur Jr. as an influence, and the blistering chords on the song sound as if they were lifted straight from J Mascis’s ear-ringing Jazzmaster.

Like all self-respecting power pop bands, The Evening Sons came together because of their mutual admiration for Big Star and Cheap Trick, which is easy to hear when they drop some minor chord bombs on standouts like “Let Her Run” or let things breathe on the closer “Hey Hey (Let’s Get Lost).” As I’ve listened to Tracks over the past three weeks, though, one band keeps coming to mind, even if they aren’t cited as an influence: Gin Blossoms. Songs about a night of debauchery like the insanely catchy “Superspreader” or “I Gotta Gurl” would fit comfortably as lost hits from the mid-nineties.

The Evening Sons aren’t reinventing the fins, which isn’t needed when a band rocks as hard as they do on Tracks. The Evening Sons are searching for an endless summer, and releasing this record at the beginning of autumn is fantastic when you’re hoping to catch one last wave. On “Cindy’s Sox,” the band sings, “On the beach, we can live in harmony” and I’m buying what The Evening Sons are selling before heading into the cold months.

Tracks is available now on Curation Records.