Sundressed – Home Remedy

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Sundressed was originally formed by lead vocalist Trevor Hedges in 2012 out of necessity to battle his quest for sobriety. After some soul searching and through the addition of a few more band members, the band were signed to international label Rude Records to record a full-length record with producer Mike Pepe. The songs that would become Home Remedy became an almost cathartic experience for Hedges and his bandmates, as they crafted songs that directly give back to their core influences. Hedges mentioned in a recent interview about the new record that, “Home Remedy is a record about getting better by any means necessary. Despite many setbacks, I truly believe we were able to make our most authentic and honest record yet.” Sundressed remind me of the early Drive-Thru Records bands that were searching for their own voice in their early works, with equally pleasing results.

The record kicks off with the pulsating title track that tackles the topic of anxiety and the ways of figuring out how to best deal with it. Hedges describes the list of “home remedies” for dealing with this mental illness and the band is more than willing to provide the punch to drive the point home. The song is reminiscent of the punk sneer of bands such as Homegrown and Allister. The band continues to investigate the other facets of their mental health in songs like “Explode! (Into Pieces).” Sundressed do a nice job of structuring their pop-punk verses into a pleasing musical package that still has plenty of lyrical substance behind it.

The explosive drumming courtesy of Vic Chan takes center stage in the song “No Thanks,” and showcases the impressive musical chops of each band member. “Oh Please” reminds me of the swaying emo-rock of Weezer, with a similar soaring chorus to complement the pop rock verses. It ended up being one of my favorite songs from this LP that never has its shortage of memorable moments.

The band continues to show their depth to their songwriting on the ballad “Size of My Heart.” Sundressed are more than capable of keeping up with the best in pop-punk realm, and they made a chorus as big as their expectations of honoring the bands that influenced their sound to this day. The tender track is similar to Boys Like Girls with a mix of some of the tongue-in-cheek lyrics of The Starting Line.

Album closer “Cash Out” features some nice harmonies with Hedges and AJ Peacox honing in on each of their strengths as vocalists to end the record on a solid note. The cohesive album stays close to theme of “getting better” and coincidentally the band’s approach to songwriting only gets better as the LP unfolds. I look forward to seeing where Sundressed will take their sound next as they continue to play off of their strengths and look for their own voice in the scene.

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