After a whopping output of albums in 2012 — 3 EPS and 1 full-length album — Sonny Tripp started recording a new album in February of 2013, for the RPM Challenge. It was an album called Zoo, and they all agreed it deserved more time and treatment than the RPM challenge (of recording an album in a month) could allow. So, after submitting Zoo in its rudimentary form, they spent March until June writing more songs for the album and reworking what they’d gotten done in February.
The result is a fantastic collection of seventeen solid songs. Each of the band’s members wrote songs for the album, which is part of the reason Zoo’s sound is so hard to tire of. Having four songwriters writing core songs for the album, even if one of them is acting as principal songwriter, creates a fuller range, and a more complete exploration of sounds, within the genre that defines them.
Fred’s Music called Zoo its #4 local album of 2013, and their website states that Zoo is, “Unquestionably one of 2013’s finest offerings of current rock with a nod and wink to old school [alt rock].” Zoo is definitely soaked in nostalgia for the nineties, particularly that of songwriters like J. Mascis and Lou Barlow. Sonny Tripp are playing quite a few shows these days, and you can catch them doing a quiet set tonight at The Levee, or Saturday night at The Levee, for Matt Hare’s EP release. If you can’t get out this weekend, catch them at The Ship next weekend with Thom & the Tomcats. Sonny Tripp have also recently advanced to the semi finals of The Levee’s battle of the bands. Said semi finals begin on the 27th, at which they’ll be playing. The guys have plan for a new EP and full-length album in 2014. For now, here’s “Farewell Lyubov” off Zoo.
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