Artist .........: Suzzallo
Title ..........: The Quiet Year
Genre ..........: AlternRock
Subgenre .......: Alternative Rock, Alternative, Indie Rock
Label ..........: Thirty Something Records
Language .......: English
Year ...........: 2025
Street Date ....: 05.02.2025
Source .........: WEB (FLAC)
Bit Depth ......: 16 Bit
Sample Rate ....: 44.1 kHz
Mode ...........: Stereo
Size ...........: 327.71 MB
Tracks .........: 11
https://open.qobuz.com/album/ea6svopxfsgrb
Url: https://www.facebook.com/suzzallo
Track List:
01.River 03:29
02.The Destroyer 03:48
03.Constellations 04:34
04.Tsunami Waves 03:22
05.Star String Radio 04:08
06.We Are The Clouds 03:02
07.Time Machine 04:23
08.Magical Thinking 03:16
09.Shattered Stars 04:07
10.Broken Dragon Wings 04:52
11.Eulogy 07:10
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46:11
Suzzallo (pronounced Sue-Zuh-Low) is a new Seattle-based rock band
fronted by Rocky Votolato. After the devastating loss of his child in a
tragic car accident, Votolato created an entire new world inside of
music that transmutes extreme grief into something healing and
beautiful. The result is Suzzallo's debut album, The Quiet Year, an
explosive eulogy of fuzzed-out, æ90s inspired alt-rock songs that are
as anthemic as they are cathartic.
Sonically, Suzzallo is somewhat of a return to form for Votolato. He's
primarily known for his solo career, with nine albums that showcase his
knack for intimate, acoustic-based indie folk, but Votolato started out
playing in louder bands, like Waxwing, who gained an underground cult
following in the mid-2000s Pacific Northwest punk and hardcore scene.
Suzzallo's music taps into that same spirit: blistering guitars,
soaring choruses, and poignantly impactful lyrics-all with a volume and
fervent intensity that far surpasses even the fiercest of Votolato's
previous work. But Suzzallo's powerhouse sound is more than an artistic
choice, it's a necessity.
ôI guess it all started to take shape in the summer of 2022, about six
months after Kienan passed," Votolato explains. ôI knew I needed a
louder, bigger, more explosive sound to say what I needed to with this
project. This kind of personal tragedy rearranges everything about you
as a human and artist. I needed a new channel to express what I was
going through and the only thing that made any sense to me were the
most distorted guitar sounds I could find-I was doing months of primal
screaming as a form of grief recovery before I was ever even able to
sing at all, so that played into the vocal delivery as well." The songs
that became Suzzallo's debut confront the shattering weight of grief
head on, while also revealing an uplifting strength and determination
to carry on beneath it-not so much a reinvention as a reincarnation. ôI
was completely shattered and knocked down by this loss, but I feel like
Suzzallo is a big part of getting back on my feet and finding a reason
to keep going," says Votolato. ôI'm so grateful for the way creating
art has helped me process my grief and heal, and I hope these songs can
bring some catharsis and comfort to others now as well."
To make The Quiet Year, Votolato was joined by a team of friends and
collaborators. Suzzallo's lineup was rounded out by bassist Steve
Bonnell (Schoolyard Heroes) and drummer Rudy Gajadhar (Waxwing), and
they recruited legendary producer John Goodmanson (Unwound, The Blood
Brothers, Sleater-Kinney) to record the album at Robert Lang Studios in
Seattle. Votolato's longtime friend Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie
and The Postal Service is even featured on several songs, lending his
signature vocals to beautifully placed harmonies, along with performing
electric guitar, bass 6, and piano.
On the massive opening one-two punch of ôRiver" and ôThe Destroyer"
Suzzallo introduce their core sound: fuzz-drenched, Pumpkins-esque
guitar tones juxtaposed with moving lyric-driven melodies. It's a
highly effective combination that demands the listener's full attention
and doesn't let go. ôI love those æ90s distorted guitar tones and they
were a big comfort to me," Votolato says. ôIt's almost like when Kienan
died I immediately was transported back to all of my earliest punk and
post-hardcore influences, bands like Jawbreaker, Drive Like Jehu, and
Fugazi. Full catharsis was my goal so those were definitely in there,
but there was something new as well-something more melody and chorus-
driven while keeping that high energy 90's approach at the same time."
Lyrically, the songs on The Quiet Year are intensely honest portraits
of an impossible to describe loss. They're marked by Votolato's
vulnerability and details that honor his child (such as recurring
images of dragons), and throughout the record the singer always manages
to deliver heartrending lyrics through bold, well-crafted hooks. It's a
magic trick that somehow makes lines like ôno one told us love was this
dangerous" (from mid-album standout ôStar String Radio"), or ôYou
became the sky, the grey and the white, against the blue, I hope you're
doing alright" (from ôConstellations") all the more effective.
The music that makes up Suzzallo's debut is more than enough to turn
heads based on sound alone. These are truly massive, earth-shaking rock
songs, the kind that make your skull rattle while filling it up with
instantly memorable hooks. But they're more than that. They're also the
kind of songs that needed to be made. The kind of songs that fulfill
their cathartic purpose before they even go out into the world. But
lucky for us they're also the kind of songs that need to be heard.
Enjoy =>