Sunday's Best

"There's a fine line between stick-to-it-tiveness andself-delusion," quips Sunday's Bestdrummer/producer Tom Ackerman,"and right now I think we're happilyconfused as to where we stand." Seated next to lead singer/guitarist EdReyes, who smiles, Ackerman continues in the tone usually reserved for thetelling of embarrassing childhood anecdotes, "we have endured a seriouslytough winter: a horrible fall tour, the departure of a founding member and primarysongwriter, the changing of booking agents, the quitting of our manager/lawyer,as well as my personal troubles of divorce and rehab. Most bands probably wouldhave quit."

A great deal of "Behind the Music" style anticshave transpired for the Los Angeles-based quartet, despite their somewhattypical beginnings. Sunday's Bestformed in 1997 when Reyes met guitarist (and then drummer) Ian Moreno while working at KXLU,Los Angeles' seminal college radio station.

Sunday's Best first signed withcrank! records and released the Where YouAre Now EP, and hit the road. Then they signed to Polyvinyl Records andreleased their first full-length, PoisedTo Break, in October of 2000. After a great run at college radio and somekey high profile shows in New York, the band limped homefrom their 6 week fall tour and then seemed to implode.

Shortly after arriving home from tour, the booking agentand the band parted ways, the manager stopped calling, Ackerman checked intorehab and his wife filed for divorce. To top everything off, before Ackermancould complete his rehab stay, Pedro Benito, a primary songwriter and foundingmember, resigned. The days ahead seemed pretty dark.

Andyet, in the months that followed, when things seemed the bleakest, the truecharacter of the band was revealed. Reyes took over the business aspects of theband and switched to guitar, James Tweedy was added to play bass, and the bandgot back to doing what all good bands do: writing music. The band's sophomoreeffort, The Californian, showed a bandreinventing itself; sloughing off tendencies toward the dual guitar noodlingand screaming vocals of their post-indie rock adolescence.