Sonny and the Moonlighters
Sonny and the Moonlighters have been the Soul/Rock music talk of the town and now they are playing a show with legendary Third Wave Ska band The Toasters at The WOW Hall! Attention has been drawn to this 8 man outfit with a 3 piece horn section due to recent support from Eugene Weekly and Eugene's own Register Guard December of last year. “The infectious, soul-drenched original tunes played by a group of nattily dressed young men have gotten people up and dancing and begging for more,” reports the Register-Guard. Enough said.
Inspired by 60's Soul, R and B, Brit Pop, most especially Motown, Sonny and the Moonlighters are a refreshing breath of fresh air from the mainstream bringing it back to a traditional American form of music.
"The crowd's keep getting bigger, I am glad that it has caught on so fast", says Sonny McNeillie, 21, the lead singer and songwriter, "I started this group because I was sick of the negativity and most especially the loud guitars in every project that I set my hands on. The labels are really missing out on the powerful songwriting of the music back then, it's timeless. It was positive, even when a song was sad there was still an uplifting element to it?"
When we are talking mainstream, we are not talking about artists like Amy Winehouse or Lilly Allen, or the producer Mark Ronson (who has spawned the rebirth of Go Hip Hop) from Britain who have also dawned the poppy 3 piece horn section sound. We are hoping that America follows suit as Sonny and the Moonlighters have.
"Our sound is hard to describe. It's less Hip Hop than Amy Winehouse and more Rock 'n Roll. Put it this way, picture The Temptations or Smokey Robinson backed by the 60's Rolling Stones. That's the best way to describe it."
And you can see where he gets the analogy from. If you have ever watched Sonny and The Moonlighters (you most definitily should), you would understand. I have seen many of their performances. The experience goes as follows, just moments into the set, a dance crowd will gather. You will often see Sonny with pompadour flare, fedora hat and sunglasses out there dancing with girls, on pool tables, or just on tables while his "Beatlesesque"
These strapping young lads wear flashy suits every time they perform. "I don't know how they did it back then, the suits end up coming off before we even finish our set. I know that we move around a lot more then they did back then, but man, how could they handle the heat?!"
"We are excited to play with the Toasters, they are an huge influence on the band, it's nice to play with a band who has a horn section as well, it's a rare occasion!"
The Toasters were founded in New York in 1981. This group performed in Clubs like the CBGB's, home to bands like The Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie, and Wire. Some of their early releases were produced by Joe Jackson, the new wave singer songwriter who recorded such hits as "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" and "Steppin' Out". They have since hit legendary status in the Ska music scene engineering the "Third Wave" of ska alongside such well known bands as Fishbone . The band will also be performing with a local group named Wetsock.
The WOW Hall, Wed. January 30th Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Doors open at 7:30 pm, showtime is 8:00.
This is a show that should be seen by every ska, soul, neo soul listener and concert goer in Eugene, OR. Don't miss it, you know who you are!
Sonny and the Moonlighters EP can be purchased at their Website:
http://www.myspace.com/
You can see videos of Sonny and the Moonlighters on the web:
http://www.youtube.com/
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
