Suneaters – Loving Relationship (Lotuspool)

Reviewing this Kansas City, MO psych-rock sextet’s 2019 fifth LP III:Unfathomable Darkness (aside: they like numbering their albums out of order!) in issue 84, I found it unusual that member W. David Keith was listed as a “visual director.” Now it makes sense: for their 2015 third album II:Loving Relationship, Keith directs this highly engaging, beautifully shot, and intricately choreographed 42-minute movie montage for nine of its 11 songs, with Haley Chaffin doing two shorter animated/claymation pieces for the tracks “After the Settlement” and “Help II.” (Three non-Loving songs – “Science for Sale,” “W.G.T.S.,” and “Be Like the Shark” – play during the opening and closing credits.) Each video is different: a goth businessman organizes a “dark gathering” event for co-workers on “Hey Bros!”; a woman lands a date with a grotesque zombie using her Murder Mates app on “Help”; the band – guitarists Chris Garibaldi and Mike Judd, bassist Scott Hartley, and drummer Christopher Cardwell – hams it up at a karate studio on “Hai Karate”; a goofy gang fight erupts at a crowded movie theatre on “Walk Around”; wedding guests enjoy a dance number-packed reception (shot in one continuous take, à la the Copacabana scene from Goodfellas) on “Bodrum”; and “Let’s Get By/White Terry Cloth Robe” closes with a boisterous backyard pool party. In film parlance, it’s a fun romp!

Watch movie at: Amazon Prime Video | Tubi TV
Movie details at: Internet Movie Database

Lotuspool Records: Website | Bandcamp | YouTube
Suneaters: Bandcamp | Facebook

“Hey Bros!”

“Hai Karate”