Today, the 7th of July, marks the 29th anniversary of the release of Arizona Record by Silver Jews, that brilliant cult group of the US indie rock scene of the 1990s fronted by the late, great, and sadly lamented David Berman who passed away in August 2019.
And it was a long-held shared love of David Berman’s work that informed the friendship and collaboration between Stuck Sunsets’ Patrick Atkinson and Dom Berry from The Illness, the UK collective of Sea Records-related personnel.
Having contributed guitars and vocals to Stuck Sunsets’ acclaimed 2021 debut album Delitism – a mercurial record that “embraces joyous pop-mixes, lo-fi electronic invention and sublime flashes of 60’s psychedelia” – the favour was returned with a duo of remixes for the brilliant 2020 split-single from The Illness, featuring the revered Pavement and Silver Jews alumni, Steve West and Bob Nastanovich.
And now to celebrate the release of Arizona Record nearly 30 years ago a new long-term joint project between Stuck Sunsets and The Illness begins with this wonderful interpretation of ‘Secret Knowledge of Back Roads’, the opening track from that EP. It is a sublime cover that succeeds in transporting the song to the present day whilst remaining true to all of the skewed, dishevelled spirit of the original.
God Is In The TV is delighted to bring you the premiere of the rather excellent accompanying video, which was created by regular Stuck Sunsets’ collaborator, Local Hero.
