The Sunset Strip

ex-Magnolia Andy Turner on second guitar in 1986. These two artists remain the core of The Sunset Strip and have been supported by a floating lineup to this day. Despite the initial success the band found itself ploughing a lonely field of Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young and 60s influences at a time when the scene was dominated by Detroit-style guitar riffarama. From 1986 onwards the band remained a critical favourite without garnering a significant following. The 1987 self-titled album was a mishmash of various lineups that never quite gelled but still contained a couple of Strip epics in The Rising Wind and Shotgun Blues. 1989s 10” Holocaust was a more coherent release and 1990s Move Right In was generally considered the bands best release. The band’s sound hard hardened considerably over the years and begun to incorporate more experimental ambient and pure noise elements taken from jazz and punk. Two cd eps were culled form sessions for the next album. 1992s Scrape It Out and 93s Nothing Lost Nothing Gained were brilliant distillations of the band’s increasingly diverse approach. An album, Stone Lazy was completed and ready for release in 95 when the band’s record label went bust. This album languished in cupboards for years, literally forgotten. In 2015, finally able again to consider the history of The Strip, Warwick and Andy found and remastered the tapes using the best of today’s digital technology. Released in 2015 to fantastic reviews in Mojo and other UK press, the album saw the regeneration of the band as recording artists. In 2017 the band released an album The Endless Sea and, in 2019 another album Crystal Ships Infinite Arrivals. These were a huge departure from previous releases and mined a rich seam of Krautrock, electronica, raw psychedelia, synths, loops and ambient soundscapes. All these influences had been loved by the band but never so overtly referenced. Both albums received excellent reviews. 2023 has seen the release of a new album The Open City. Again, long looping kraut/psych/Stooges jams are interspersed by shorter instrumental works. Descibed by one interviewer as "a masterwork" the album has been the best reviewed work by the band. Another album, Lonely Surfer, has been in the works, on and off, for a decade, and combines elements of their entire catalogue. It needs a little remixing and mastering and will be released free on social media sites as a "thank you" to every person who has ever appreciated us..