Chicago’s Suns have pretty much burst onto our local scene in a big way. Folks still talk about their January debut at the Metro. I suppose when your band is comprised of members of other formerly well known bands such as Wax On Radio and Blame Twilight you’ve got a built in buzz. Roughly eight months (Actually six, but I received the album a few months late) after their forming, Suns have released a double EP. This may sound odd because you might think “isn’t a double EP just a full-length?”, and you wouldn’t be a fool for asking such a question. But, The Howl and The Many and Close Calls In The U.S. Space Program are different enough that I can see why they chose to release them this way.

Suns are basically an indie rock marching band. No, not like Mucca Pazza. Suns hide their marching band tendencies underneath their epic sound, but listening to them, it’s not hard to imagine Suns parading down your street. Dual drummers Clinton Weber and Chris Pagnani give most songs a thundering rumble rather than a standard high hat/snare beat. Mikey Russell’s vocals often sound as if he is standing away from the mic and ecstatically yelling to make up for the space. So you’ve got that, a rumbling beat and shouted vocals, and it’s augmented by banjo, glockenspiel, harmonium, mandolin and guitar to create this feeling that the band is constantly rolling downhill and, like a child, loving every second of it.

Of the two EP’s Close Calls… is the more straight forward indie rock sounding. Opener “You Are On” recalls Pedro The Lion at its grandest. Epic and grand are two words you’ll constantly hear when discussing Suns. Yet, despite its constant epic feel and denser, darker sound, Close Calls… still has much room to breath and that’s a testament to Suns restraint. A band of six with instruments galore could easily end up over stuffing their songs to the point of claustrophobia, but instead they use them to add atmosphere like the swirling underbelly of “Small Parts”. And it makes for some pretty beautiful music.

The Howl And The Many contains my favorite tune on either EP, the extremely grandiose “Everything Changes”. It’s more guitar heavy than anything on Close Calls… and signals the slight yet consequential change between EPs. The Howl And The Many is the heavier, more experimental and, yes, epic of the pair. I know I keep throwing around the word epic, but when the shoe fits as they say. One can imagine “Everything Changes” is the song that really gets everyone sweating when performed live. At this point, the marching band has throngs following it Rocky-style wherever it leads.

The beauty of Suns, and specifically these EPs, is that I imagine they have a pretty large appeal across genres. Close Calls… should grab early to mid-90′s emo lovers. Not mall emo mind you but Pedro The Lion or Sunny Day Real Estate emo. And The Howl…, with its amped up ecstasy, will easily grab the attention of ecstatic lovers of Arcade Fire and the like. True, Suns probably could have released this as one full length, but there’s something clever in making us look at them as two short separate pieces. The sound may be similar but each leans a different way. Full-length or EP, Suns have provided us with nine songs that sound new and slightly classic at the same time. No wonder we’re still talking about their first show eight months later. We’ll probably still be talking about them for many months to come as well.
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Catch Suns on Sunday, September 5, at Bash On Wabash! Suns play at 4:00 p.m. on the North Stage. Admission is a suggested donation of $5.
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Download The Howl And The Many & Close Calls In The U.S. Space Program for free right now at Sunsband.com!