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SUNSHOWER (THE REVIVALISTS)<br />
For fans of: Nirvana, Alice in Chains, post-grunge<br />
“If there ever was a musical revolution in Arizona,<br />
it’s happening right now. We’re living it, baby!” Eric<br />
Hula, singer and guitarist of Sunshower, relates to<br />
me. “I’ve been going to shows for a decade. I was<br />
there when [the rock/metal scene] was alive and<br />
well, and also when it died.”<br />
Hula, Brent Gutierrez, Jorge Santacruz, and Kelly<br />
Emig are on a mission from God to bring the frenetic<br />
energy and heaviness back to Rock. They have<br />
succeeded. I saw them recently opening for Purple<br />
at Valley Bar, and it was a revelation to be sure. All<br />
the hallmarks of our last great era in mainstream<br />
rock (the ’90s) are evident in their album Leader of<br />
the Cult: heavy guitars, often awash in effects, gruff<br />
vocals and an accessibly heavy sound.<br />
36 JAVA<br />
MAGAZINE<br />
What sets them apart from other groups mining<br />
the same territory is the complete and utter lack of<br />
pretension in their work. They don’t come off tonguein-cheek,<br />
ironically playing the styles of yesteryear to<br />
prove their street cred (which they also have); rather,<br />
they are earnest in their fandom, and that honest<br />
approach can be heard in songs like “Slave to the<br />
Season” and “Sorry.” In my opinion, this makes them<br />
true students of grunge and post-grunge, Alice in<br />
Chains and Bush alike.<br />
“We draw inspiration from the good and the bad,”<br />
Hula says, referring to their post-grunge tendencies.<br />
“We want to make something that we want to<br />
hear.” Indeed, their influences from the past<br />
include musical elements currently considered out<br />
of style, and it is precisely what makes Sunshower<br />
great. The mixture of those elements might appear<br />
cheesy on the surface, but culminates in a sound<br />
that, while hearkening back to another time, is<br />
capable of standing on its own two feet, and does.<br />
Outside this band, the members of Sunshower are<br />
also involved, to varying degrees, with the exciting<br />
post-emo group Goldengoat, as well as the hardcore<br />
group Reasons. If anything in this article indicates the<br />
rejuvenated state of our music community right now,<br />
it is the fact that three of the best bands in Phoenix<br />
share members for the greater good of our scene as<br />
a whole.<br />
“It has never been like this [in Phoenix], ever,” Hula<br />
says. “More venues and bands are sprouting up every<br />
day, and they are good.” Well put.<br />
Sunshower will be performing at the Within These<br />
Walls festival at The Nile Theater Oct. 29.
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