Bay Area slowcore outfit Sour Widows – comprised of guitarists/vocalists Susanna Thomson and Maia Sinaiko, drummer Max Edelman, and bassist Timmy Stabler – just released their debut LP, Revival Of A Friend (the follow-up to 2021’s sophomore EP, Crossing Over), this June on Exploding In Sound Records, but they all actually go way back. “Me and Maia met at a summer camp when we were kids, so we became friends as pre-teens. Maia and Max went to middle school together, and then our bassist, Timmy Stabler, went to high school with Maia,” Thomson tells me during a recent Sunday morning phone chat. However, at 21 they found themselves all living in the same Bay Area town for the first time, and amidst figuring out what to do post-college, they decided they’d start the band (They technically started with Thomson and Sinaiko as a duo, but Edelman joined the fold after attending their first-ever live show, and Stabler has been playing with the band for five years now.)
Susanna tells me that, despite still being a relatively new band, Sour Widows have already achieved some major milestones: “For sure, the biggest highlights for me personally, in terms of a representation of work and time, is things like playing Outside Lands last summer, which is like the big festival out here and that was a bucket list moment. And then touring with Duster, who have been, since high school, a huge influence on each of us, so that whole tour, especially the show at The Regency, that was a really wonderful evening.”
Thomson also admits that Revival Of A Friend itself has also been a major highlight for Sour Widows: “This is, for sure, our most fully realized work to date… You’re always chasing something with each record you make, but this is the closest to the soundscape we envisioned in our mind.” She also says that they certainly approached their first full-length differently than their two EPs: “For the first EP [2020’s Sour Widows], we did live tracking, while the second EP we did totally remotely. For this record, we had a super calculated, multi-tracking approach, with tons of tempo-mapping.” Although she also confesses that the recording of next LP (which they plan to get on ASAP) will probably be something totally different: “We definitely achieved what we set out to do, although I’m sure for the sake of switching things up, the next record is probably gonna be all live.”
Just last week Sour Widows released their very first Audiotree session, which includes live versions of 5 of the 10 tracks from their LP and was recorded this June, immediately following a run of West Coast dates. “It was wonderful. They are so cool and nice. The vibes at Audiotree are awesome,” Thomson tells me of the experience, but admits that scheduling the session to immediately follow the end of a live jaunt and just prior to their drive back home maybe didn’t allow them to appear in their ideal state: “It’s so easy when you’re on tour to cram everything in and not think about the energy it requires… When we put out our next album and do all that, I’d love the opportunity to go back and feel like I’m on my A-game [laughs].”
Since those June dates, Sour Widows went on another short West Coast run in July, but they’re gearing up for an East Coast trek that kicks off this weekend at Raleigh’s Hopscotch Music Festival and wraps September 13th at Johnny Brenda’s. And Susanna tells me the band are super amped to be in our neck of the woods: “We love the East Coast and it’s been two years since we’ve been there, when we were there with Living Hour… We are beyond excited! I’m counting down the hours!” Sour Widows last found themselves in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection in 2022, when they played Ukie Club with Living Hour, but apparently they’ve been touring basically since their inception: “We’ve toured a ton. The first three years of the band was consistently non-stop DIY touring… Although we’ve stopped the DIY strategy because it’s just not sustainable for our goals as a band, but we’ve played like five million house shows in basements across the country.”
For their upcoming East Coast dates, Sour Widows will be double-headlining with Hardly Art’s youbet, who we saw earlier this year supporting our buddies Coco at MilkBoy and who Susanna tells me Sour Widows have long been fans of and inspired by: “We’ve admired them for the last two years… We’re a band that’s very influenced by our peers and contemporary music that’s coming out right now. It pushes me to think about the way I approach my own songwriting and craft.” She admits that this sentiment also extends to many of Sour Widows’ labelmates at Exploding In Sound (which they love: “They’re so wonderful… I cannot say enough about Dan Goldin and Dave Spak, the founders of the label!”): “Pile are one of our all-time favorite bands, and then we love Ovlov and Pet Fox… I think some of the most unique sounds coming out right now, at least in the realm of ‘rock,’ are coming out of Exploding In Sound.”
Although September 13th will be Sour Widows’ first time playing Johnny Brenda’s, Susanna tells me that she’s heard a lot of great things about Fishtown’s “mini rock n’ roll ballroom,” but admits that the venue space itself rarely determines the success of a particular show: “It really depends on the energy of the crowd. If the vibes are right, any venue can be a great place to play… Our goal is to always crush.” She also tells me that a lot of the greatest moments of an evening often come before or after a performance: “It always means a lot to hear directly from people what certain songs have meant to them, and that’ll often happen at the merch stand. It’s always kind of a trip to me… It always kind of blows my mind.”
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