Sanderlings Hatch Debut Album

Pop-Punk Band Celebrates with Breakfast Culture Club Show

On Friday, June 8, at 7 p.m., Santa Barbara’s pop-punk rockers Sanderlings will celebrate the release of their new, self-titled album at Breakfast Culture Club (711 Chapala St.). The show kicks off the beginning of a record release tour for the four-piece, and they’re starting right at home. Founded in 2016, the Sanderlings have been a favorite in the regional DIY scene for their energetic sets and grab-life-by-the-horns spirit.

The self-titled record marks their first long-form release to date. “It’s a strange feeling,” said founder, guitarist, and singer Woody Locke. “We have put so much work and thought into it that now that it’s here, I almost don’t want it to be — like I care too much to show it to the world.”

Ultimately though, the band is thrilled, said bassist Anthony Claremont. “We’re very proud of our work. Our friends have been so supportive of our shows, and I’m looking forward to being able to hand them something permanent after a whole year of learning on big and small stages. The classic idea of punk really applies to this record,” he added. “Anybody can play music; anybody can learn; anybody’s creativity can be explosive.”

A Santa Barbara spirit permeates the album, which is filled with memories of beach-bluff bonfires and skates down the sidewalks. Songs such as “Lizard’s Mouth Feeling” come from time spent in our own great backyard. “Most of the songs were written at More Mesa,” Locke said. “‘Clear Like Daze,’ ‘Future Spirit of Tonite,’ ‘Young Heart//Old Soul’ … all have references to memories there.”

Sanderlings is something of a love letter to youthful abandon, with pumped-up and anthemic reminiscences to rebellion and good times galore. Like their namesake waterside birds, there’s something charming and elevating about the way the group works in cohesion, several hearts moving in unison, slightly hyper. “The album is a dog being let off the leash at Hendry’s Beach, that kind of wild excitement,” Locke said. Drummer Adam Jahnke calls it a “celebration to wasting time. It’s important to be bored and aimless, so relish those moments when your time is truly yours to waste.”

Case in point: the new video for single “Stories,” which depicts a true tale of a first date gone awry. Locke and date, the story goes, jumped into an unmarked police car; complications ensued. Fittingly, the music video shoot was a bit wild, too. “Filming the whole thing was just total chaos,” Locke recounted. “We almost decapitated Anthony, and that’s not even the worst thing that happened.” A drone narrowly missed the bassist by an inch. Luckily, the band and cast are all in one piece and in good spirits.

Sanderlings recently showered a celebratory crowd with champagne at the Avaline Music Festival in Monterey County as a massive bonfire blazed nearby. The band hits the road soon to all points west, coursing along the coast before traveling through the desert. They will return to Santa Barbara in mid-July, but the Breakfast show will be a good chance to catch them.

The show promises to be a great and rollicking time. “We definitely lose our minds a little bit when we play, which makes us less than perfect onstage, but always fun to watch,” Claremont said. “Every show counts for us. This is a passion project, and I think that people will enjoy experiencing that with us.”