Sun Room, Majak Door @ Jive, Adelaide 19/1/2024
This was definitely one of those rare gems as far as gigs to have experienced goes as only a small group of Adelaidians cottoned on to this. So who is Sun Room? Well, Sun Room are from Southern California who combine garage with iconic SoCal surf sound with flavours of 70s classic rock, 80s new wave, and a decent serving of surf thrash. Some have described them as the modern day Beach Boys and you can see the influences of 60s bands The Seeds, The Birds, and The Ventures shine through.
Melbourne band Majak Door opened proceedings and were a perfect fit to complement Sun Room. Their dreamy wave pop was just the tonic for a Friday night and it seemed as if they brought in plenty of their local supporter base. It was chilled and their music really did resonate with the crowd. Set highlights for me was 2023 single Borderline and King Tide.
There was not a great deal of fan fare or hype in the lead up to Sun Room taking the stage. They are are definitely one of those bands that is on the cusp of breaking in a big way. They are armed with some great singles off the four EP’s released to date (At Least I Tried, Outta Their Minds, Somewhere Tropical and Sol Del Sur) and there’s plenty to like with the way that they go about it. The crowd had built up a little making up for it in enthusiasm and adulation for their new favourite band.
Luke Asgian (vocals and guitar), Ashton Minnich (guitar), Max Pinamonti (bass) and Thomas Rhodes (drums) wasted no time getting in to it barrelling their way Something That You’re Missing, Get Me Outta New York City, Cherry and Fun. Luke Asgian did not say a lot throughout their performance but did acknowledge that it was great being in Adelaide on their first Australian tour and that this was the last show of the tour.
Sunset Blvd was about a street back home and both Rock & Roll Band and Cadillac were great. Cut My Hair started slow building up to finish at a frenetic pace. My only criticism was at times they were knocking over songs so quick one after another seemed as if they were in a hurry to catch a bus. That said, that seemed inconsequential considering how great they played and sounded. Plenty of highlights from Hate It When You Call, Sunset Garage, Crashed My Bike and Sol Der Sur. Sun Room are a band that are going places and are on the up. Check them out on Spotify, they might change you life.
Live Review By Rob Lyon