5 out of 5

Label: Trouble in Mind

Produced by: Charles Burst, John Thayer (recorded by)

When last we left Sunwatchers – on Trouble in Mind, anyway, as the quite proliferate group found room for two other releases since then – they were already delivering some masterful works of skronk rock, splattering punk-ethosed jazz onto various related templates of drone, and noise, and jam, and so on. II was a wild, blustery trip, both sprawling and yet tempered thanks to the group’s messaging, a unique variable amongst bands of this type, and one that is infusing things with good doses of both celebratory and furious feelings.

Illegal Moves is actually the album that put ‘Watchers on my radar, and my sampling of it was essentially an instant sale. Since traveling to and fro in their discography, this has proven to be a mighty starting point, as it could be seen a kind of peak of their more anarchic start and a transition towards projects which feel considered moreso as whole pieces and not necessarily sessions of songs – while still being just as loud and rocking, of course. The album title and artwork capture this spirit, both presenting a very directly revolutionary vibe… considering we’ve got the Kool-Aid Man bedecked and stomping on stars and stripes and the album name rather obviously nodding to nonlawful business.

Inside we get off to business as “usual” with New Dad Blues’ chorus of keys building and screeching atop a steady rock beat and celebratory melody, frenzied horns emerging along the way. Beautiful Crystals tames this into a steady state groove, dashes of melancholy in its horns streamlining the tune into a Trans Am-like jam, with followup Greeneyed Pigmen reactively violent, and we’re raging, and then… Everybody Play.

With a title like that, it could be chaos, but instead, Sunwatchers turn towards traditional jazz, slow rolls of strummed guitar and pattery drums; calm horns. We still get an explosion conclusion, because that’s how the band goes, but it’s cathartic – a lot of upfront energy on the A-side, slowed down and then released, as play.

Part 2: Psychic Driving is one of the group’s wildest tracks to date, starting in a soupy mire of pluckings that gets sharper and more tick-tock (for me, it’s like Polar Goldie Cats), and then insane, with guitars making impossible zig-zag noises amidst screeching horns and a forever increasing beat. Sunwatchers are on point with this track, tight as ever. Alice Coltrane’s Ptah, The El Daoud is up next, transformed into an abbreviated, lightly ragga version, which is the perfect transition to the perfectly named Strollin’ Coma Blues – a folksy pace and swagger, playing as we wander offstage.

The back cover of Illegal Moves features a mockup of the band playing behind the crowd that’s witnessing the chaos on the front cover, and that seems representative of the album’s flow: from rabble-rousers to observers. The depiction has the group still sweatin’, and playing hard as ever, but they’re content doing it for themselves. From the A-side to the B-side, Moves flows effortlessly, but definitely changes, adding some more patience to the group’s already well-considered approach, and resulting in one of their more balanced albums – and certainly one of their best amongst several greats.