Thee Sinseers are a nine-piece Los Angeles-based outfit spearheaded by songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Joey Quiñones. He’s no stranger to the Colemine Records roster, having released tracks on the label by Thee Sinseers and under his own name as far back as 2019. Even though Sinseerly Yours is the band’s first LP, the performances feel confident, and each track is expertly arranged.
The band lean into the softer side of soul, pulling influences from 50s doo-wop, torch songs, smooth soul, even a little garage rock here and there. Quiñones’s vocals are often sung falsetto but work just as well in lower registers. Singer Adriana Flores takes the lead on a few tracks, too, giving the album even more variety.
Sinseerly Yours is a natural progression of Thee Sinseers’s previous 45s for Colemine. The songs feel more expansive here, though, and the difference in styles helps show off the band’s range. It doesn’t veer too far outside of what they’ve done in the past, but as a collection of songs it functions as a more definitive statement than the earlier single tracks.
“What’s His Name” kicks things off with its catchy refrain, while Flores’s vocals make “Can’t Call Me Baby” a standout. The “Wooly-Bully” style garage rock stomp of “Talking Back” showcases the band’s ability to take things up a few notches, but the laid-back title track closes the album perfectly with its hazy nocturnal mood.
The album’s lyrics focus on love-related topics for the most part, which some might find a little repetitive. That said, the subject matter fits the music perfectly, lending an air of urgency to each track’s performance (especially the slower ballads).
Simon Workman
For more of Simon Workman’s music reviews, check out The Fire Note
Other reviews you might enjoy:
- Heather Redman & the Reputation – music review
- Bewilderment (Pale Jay) – music review
- In Green / We Dream (Parlor Greens) – music review
The Fire Note started to create a simple place that could showcase records that we liked. Nothing more, nothing less. The focus has always been about the album and the experience that a great record creates. The Fire Note Webzine builds on this idea by offering an array of content that is all about the enjoyment of music, its pulse and energizing attitude.
