While we all know that Dame Dolla just dropped a new track from his forthcoming first full-length, the real place you should be focusing your attention in the Blazers' off-season is on Sabonis.
And while the guys over at Good Cheer Records—which'll release the band's self-titled, debut EP on cassette tape on August 14—say "Sabonis is one of the saddest records [they've] heard in years," it's also full of potential—just like the Lithuanian legend. With it's lo-fi, somber, punky attitude, as nonconformist as the lightning bolt-flat trajectory on the the three-pointer that the big man dealt up, it's a snapshot of five friends with shared histories, from bands past and present like Forest Park, Your Rival, The Bustling Townships and Zoogirl.
“We all grew up in the same music scene, and all our bands broke up at the same time, so we thought we should all just do one more band together,” explains guitarist and vocalist Maya Stoner.
The product may be a little rougher around the edges than a delicate Soviet sky hook or a perfectly placed no-look pass, but it's still a wistfully nostalgic memory of days gone but not forgotten, even as the band looks to forge something new.
With recording sessions that were characterized by “burritos, weed and impromptu Mario Kart tournaments,” says bassist Jarret Domen, the EP came together last summer at The Trash Treasury, the studio of Wild Ones’ Clayton Knapp who also had help from Adam Becker of Autistic Youth.
