Sunwatchers - Music Is Victory Over Time [Kool-Aid Sunflare]

Blazing back after a semi-hiatus, Sunwatchers return with their fifth album Music Is Victory Over Time – a genre-splintering manifesto soaked in psych-jazz fire and punk spirit, now pressed on a stunning Kool-Aid Sunflare vinyl.

This record is a ride. Opener “World People” sets the tone with anarcho-spiritual energy, blending free-jazz horns with marching grooves reminiscent of Albert Ayler-meets-New Orleans. Then comes “Too Gary” – a pulsing, motorik frenzy with gang vocals and wild abandon, destined to ignite live crowds. “T.A.S.C. (Theme For Anarchist Sports Center)” hilariously reimagines ‘80s sports show bombast through a mutant-funk filter, while “Foams” drips with ambient dread and natural awe, evoking shifting tides and decaying time.

Always walking the line between the ecstatic and the chaotic, Sunwatchers lean into sonic experimentation on “Tumulus” with sequencers and tape delays, then flip the script again with the smoky strut of “There Goes Ol’ Ooze.” Closer “Song For The Gone” is heartbreakingly tender – a Spanish guitar elegy turned communal catharsis.

Recorded at John Dwyer’s LA studio, the album’s sound is bigger and brasher than ever, helped along by the in-house gear arsenal and engineer Eric Bauer’s wizardry. Visually, the vinyl pops with Josh MacPhee’s radical artwork, grounding the band’s utopian politics in gritty beauty.

This Kool-Aid Sunflare edition isn’t just eye candy – it’s a portal into Sunwatchers' anarchic, joyous world. Grab it and lose track of time.