Sunchunck emerges ... "L8" again

Not to get all weird and paranoid about it, but sometimes, you know, it seems like people are just messing with me. Like Sunchunck, the Newburyport-based power trio that started turning heads about three years ago when they were named the region's best unsigned band at the Emergenza Festival. The band has been conspicuously missing-in-action lately. The last time we heard from them was a 9/11 gig at the Grog. Rumor had it that the boys — John Cantino, Brett Manoloff and Mike Bertolami — have been safely tucked away in the studio, putting the final touches on a new album, their third, a collection of tunes tentatively titled "Finally Here." Which probably should have been fair warning, given the band's unconsciously ironic — or prescient — album names in the past.

We're talking about "L8," which, of course, was famously late when it was finally released, months after the record release party. Then we see the gig poster at Andyman, our favorite Left Banke pastry purveyor. "Sunchunck," it says, "Finally Here." They're playing a Jan. 8 benefit concert for Amesbury High School Class of 2010 ... With a band suspiciously called The Closers opening. We decided to do some checking — just to be sure, you know? And it turns out "Finally Here" isn't and "won't be 100 percent done" for the show at the high school's fancy new 900-seat performance center, says Bertolami, the Plum Island bassist whose tenuous, maybe even fanciful relationship with chronological reality was the driving lyrical force behind "L8," the song.

The disc, when it's actually finally here, will include four new songs ("Wait," "Finally Here," "No Win Fantasy" and "Voodoo on the Brain," a reggae-flavored tune that has been a part of the band's live shows for over a year) and collects new versions of Sunchunckie faves, like "Living My Life Again," "Butterfly" and, of course, the fist-pumping, patriotic cover of "God Bless America," which put the spotlight on the band in the first place. "Finally Here" has been tentatively and, let's be honest here, ambiguously (re)scheduled for a "spring 2010" release. We'll see. But the show most definitely is on, and the band, which has a Beatles-meet-Weezer vibe, has been on something of a roll over the past couple of months, despite the fact that they've been missing in action, locally: Its recording of "God Bless America" got some serious airtime recently. During the Pats/Dolphins game at Gillette Stadium on Veterans Day. In front of 60,000-plus fans, after the National Anthem, accompanied by an Air Force flyover. They've also been asked to participate in a compilation CD project for the Kevin Youkilis foundation, “Youk’s Hits for Kids,” which will find the local rockers rubbing shoulders with some pretty impressive musical company, like Springsteen, Godsmack and the Dropkick Murphys, to name only a few.

The band, if you've never heard them, plays straight-ahead rock. There’s no hip, intriguing back story to the band. There’s no trend-riding. It’s a power trio playing solid, original rock music because ... well, because they like to, and the concerts have an almost communal feel. There's a real sense of family. Maybe it's a Port thing.

JUST THE FACTS, MAN: Sunchunck will perform an all-ages show at 8 p.m. Jan. 8 at Amesbury High School. The Closers open. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 the day of the show. Advance tickets are available by emailing sunchunck@gmail.com. Proceeds benefit the Amesbury High School Class of 2010. For tickets, call 978.388.4800 or check out the band online. www. sunchunck.com
We're talking about "L8," which, of course, was famously late when it was finally released, months after the record release party. Then we see the gig poster at Andyman, our favorite Left Banke pastry purveyor. "Sunchunck," it says, "Finally Here." They're playing a Jan. 8 benefit concert for Amesbury High School Class of 2010 ... With a band suspiciously called The Closers opening. We decided to do some checking — just to be sure, you know? And it turns out "Finally Here" isn't and "won't be 100 percent done" for the show at the high school's fancy new 900-seat performance center, says Bertolami, the Plum Island bassist whose tenuous, maybe even fanciful relationship with chronological reality was the driving lyrical force behind "L8," the song.

The disc, when it's actually finally here, will include four new songs ("Wait," "Finally Here," "No Win Fantasy" and "Voodoo on the Brain," a reggae-flavored tune that has been a part of the band's live shows for over a year) and collects new versions of Sunchunckie faves, like "Living My Life Again," "Butterfly" and, of course, the fist-pumping, patriotic cover of "God Bless America," which put the spotlight on the band in the first place. "Finally Here" has been tentatively and, let's be honest here, ambiguously (re)scheduled for a "spring 2010" release. We'll see. But the show most definitely is on, and the band, which has a Beatles-meet-Weezer vibe, has been on something of a roll over the past couple of months, despite the fact that they've been missing in action, locally: Its recording of "God Bless America" got some serious airtime recently. During the Pats/Dolphins game at Gillette Stadium on Veterans Day. In front of 60,000-plus fans, after the National Anthem, accompanied by an Air Force flyover. They've also been asked to participate in a compilation CD project for the Kevin Youkilis foundation, “Youk’s Hits for Kids,” which will find the local rockers rubbing shoulders with some pretty impressive musical company, like Springsteen, Godsmack and the Dropkick Murphys, to name only a few.

The band, if you've never heard them, plays straight-ahead rock. There’s no hip, intriguing back story to the band. There’s no trend-riding. It’s a power trio playing solid, original rock music because ... well, because they like to, and the concerts have an almost communal feel. There's a real sense of family. Maybe it's a Port thing.

JUST THE FACTS, MAN: Sunchunck will perform an all-ages show at 8 p.m. Jan. 8 at Amesbury High School. The Closers open. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 the day of the show. Advance tickets are available by emailing sunchunck@gmail.com. Proceeds benefit the Amesbury High School Class of 2010. For tickets, call 978.388.4800 or check out the band online.