The Beloved Returns [LP]

Night Shop - The Beloved Returns [LP]

Justin Sullivan has been living something of an artistic double life for the last 8 years. He's been playing drums in Los Angeles' Flat Worms and getting back together with his NYC bandmates in The Babies but he's also been crafting his own songs under the name Night Shop. Under this moniker Sullivan has released two LPs and two 12'' EPs and toured supporting Widowspeak Shannon Lay and Waxahatchee. Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield once described Sullivan as ''a well-read modern day Buddy Holly'' and on his new record The Beloved Returns he raises the bar of both the literary allusions and the rock'n'roll. The record's title track was inspired by Thomas Manns's 1939 fictionalized biography of Goethe titled Lotte in Weimar: The Beloved Returns and themes of desire obsession and the places they send you are all over the record. On the sonic end the record is louder and faster than any Night Shop record before a result of Sullivan's collaboration with the Summer Cannibals' Jessica Bourdeaux who produced the record with songs like the opener ''Ode To Joy II'' coming fast out of the gate quickly followed by ''Let Me Be the Lamb.'' A1. Ode To Joy II A2. Let Me Be The Lamb A3. The Beloved Returns A4. Thought in the Dark A5. I Loved You From The Moment I Saw You B1. Too Late Too Late B2. Sidelined B3. Once Bitten Twice Bored B4. Capitol Gardens B5. Good Intentions