Sunday Junkie manipulate the noise of nothing and everything with debut album
Worcester alternative duo capture a hypnotic tension through societal reflections on self-titled debut record out Friday, May 9
Album is led by series of recent singles, including the stirring ‘Vultures’
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Photo Credit: Sunday Junkie
WORCESTER, Mass. [May 9, 2025] – When Sunday Junkie formed a little more than a year ago, the Worcester duo’s initial creative vision expanded far beyond simple genre conventions. At its core was a sort of amalgamation of things outside a definable sphere of style and sound, and more a reflection of the personal experiences of its two members, a pair of Boston scene veterans who came together to unleash pent-up caustic tension through something new. It could be said that Sunday Junkie is not a band because they wanted to be, but simply because they had to be.
And now the result of that inaugural vision takes sonic shape through Sunday Junkie’s self-titled debut album, inviting us to share in the growing resentment of society’s devolution and degradation, set for release on Friday, May 9.
And like a life spent leading up to this moment, collecting the bumps and bruises and highs and lows captured along the way, the record has slowly emerged through a series of five singles, showcasing half the record, beginning with last fall’s kinetic “Vultures” and last month’s expansive “Fever Dream.”
The result is a stirred Molotov cocktail of noise, a torrent of blissful agitation that corrals digestible genre lanes of post-punk, emo, ‘90s alternative, post-hardcore and whatever else from the duo of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Tom Martin and drummer and percussionist Shawn Pelkey, two longtime friends who recently were part of Massachusetts hopefuls Not Bad Not Well.
“Our sound emerged purely unintentionally – it’s just a pretty faithful expression of our influences and where we’re at in terms of writing abilities,” admits Martin. “I’ve never been a fan of trying to sound like xyz, or feel like we need to stay within certain parameters of a genre, but rather letting the songs just happen as they’re meant to.”
Martin and Pelkey co-engineered the album, with Martin developing the artwork and the overall aesthetics. The record was then mixed by Jack Shea, and mastered by Jay Frigoletto at Mastersuite in Brookline, New Hampshire.
The Sunday Junkie album first began to take shape just before Halloween 2024, when the duo unleashed lead single “Vultures,” a track examining the often exploitative nature of the haves and have-nots in our society. It eventually would go on to emerge as the opening song on the record.
On “Vultures,” a jangly, almost unhinged guitar line sets the tone before Pelkey's drums help steady a beat; by the 16-second mark, the Sunday Junkie sound immediately emerges with an undertow-like draw and confrontational mood. It could be considered the quintessential Sunday Junkie track, both through the music and the reflective lyricisms, if the nine that followed didn’t create a sort of hall-of-mirrors where styles and sounds ricochet with dazzling, hypnotic effect.
“‘Vultures’ is about the seemingly ever-growing gap between those who are drowning in excess and those who are barely making ends meet,” Martin reveals. “The ‘lace canopy’ reference was really just easier to sing than ‘glass ceiling’, but it’s the same idea. On top of the invisible barrier we can’t seem to get past, there’s just enough of a view into that ‘better life’ for us to long for it, but never reach it. And that longing is exploited to no end.”
Elsewhere, the yearning “Holy, Holy,” about self-medicating through alcohol to mask larger underlying personal issues, offers a hazy, slow-burn ache and a dense cloud of calculated propulsion that belies its guitar-rock core; the atmospheric “Fever Dream” glides through a kaleidoscopic daze before eruption in primal emotion; and the buoyant “Sister” glistens with an almost pop-like, radio-ready allure.
Tracks like “Seventeen” and “Haunted Head” twist and crawl with a dramatic precision, whereas “The Noise of Nothing” is a propulsive dagger through our comfort zones. Each possesses a meandering, slightly chaotic precision that feels like it’ll skid off the rails at any given time… but simply never does.
“For the lyrical themes on this album, I’d say it’s a pretty even split of deeply personal, introspective lyrics and then dealing with discontent in relation to the world at large,” says Martin. “On the more personal, introspective side are songs like ‘Death Defier’ and ‘Fever Dream’ that delve into romantic relationships, and ‘Constellations’ aims to examine the dull ache of nostalgia and fleeting youth. ‘Emergencies’ hits on religious hypocrisy and the mainstream media’s constant cycle of fear often played ad nauseam.”
Martin cites the choir-esque ending of “Constellations” and the lyrics of “Death Defier,” and how they evoke the bitterness surrounding the end of a relationship with a terrible human, as personal highlights. But the Sunday Junkie record is best absorbed as a whole, eschewing our culture’s desperation for the neatly-packaged single and short-burst entertainment options in favor of a grander, more elaborate listening experience.
If this is the album of our discontent, then Sunday Junkie are proud to play the role. And the confidence and chemistry between Martin and Pelkey is born out of a lifetime of friendship and collaboration, taking a love of ‘90s-era guitar music, from alt-rock to emo to even stoner and desert rock territories. Martin writes his parts at his home studio, and then sends the files to Pelkey where he works his percussive magic and brings the music to life.
“For the most part, the songs take shape without intent,” says Pelkey. “Every now and then Tom will write a track where I hear certain influences and I’ll try and nudge it in that direction. The first time I heard the ‘Vultures’ riff, it gave me a heavy Queens of the Stone Age vibe. That sense of nostalgia made it easy for me to write my parts. I’m sure that stems from the fact we share a lot of the same influences. The ‘90s alternative vibe is definitely strong with us.”
That vibe glows in various aural hues, with a combination of ‘90s alt-rock (through strains of Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M., Sonic Youth), earlier post-rock and emo (the ethos and creativity of Appleseed Cast, Mogwai, Sunny Day Real Estate), as well as a cascade of 2000s-era elements (At The Drive-In, …Trail of Dead) all forming to provide a loose sonic roadmap of both past and future spoils.
But for Sunday Junkie, the sound contained across these 10 tracks is indebted to their own vision. It might seem obnoxious to declare a band that hasn’t even released its debut album already has a signature and identifiable sound, but the chaotic bliss that swirls around the record is simply too personal to be anyone else. A detailed lyric book that accompanies the Bandcamp release of the record helps to further establish that connection between artist and listener.
“We’re just trying to write great and honest songs,” Martin concludes. “My favorite albums deepen the relationship you have with them each time you give them another listen, whether it be a lyric you didn’t notice before, a somewhat buried, but really cool, track, etc. And I hope on some level we can achieve that.”
Media Contact: Direct press inquiries to Michael Marotta at michael@knyvet.com,
and reach Tom Martin of Sunday Junkie at sundayjunkieband@gmail.com.
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Album artwork:
Art design by Tom Martin
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‘Sunday Junkie’ lineup and production credits:
Tom Martin: Guitar, bass, synth, vocals, lyrics, engineering
Shawn Pelkey: Drums and other percussion, engineering
Mixed by Jack Shea
Mastered by Jay Frigoletto
Artwork by Tom Martin
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Sunday Junkie short bio:
Sunday Junkie is a Worcester-based alternative rock duo composed of multi-instrumentalist, lyricist, and vocalist Tom Martin and drummer and percussionist Shawn Pelkey. The band released a pair of debut singles in Fall 2024 (October’s “Vultures” and November’s “Haunted Head”), with If It’s Too Loud praising its ability to present “a sound that is truly all of their own out of some of our favorite musical elements,” and Rock And Roll Fables citing “Martin’s warm bass lines interwoven with his riffs and Pelkey’s drum lines in a perfect sync that’s still a labyrinth-like aural odyssey.” A new single called “Holy, Holy” drops in February 2025, with more new music on the way, leading to Sunday Junkie’s debut album arriving in May, just in time for spring’s bloom.
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Media praise for Sunday Junkie:
“Cool…” _Dying Scene
“Fiery vocals. Ablaze emotions. Expressive electricity. Amplified pop tune.” _Turn Up The Volume
“‘Holy, Holy’ from Sunday Junkie is the kind of song that effortlessly finds its way into your soul and stays with you long after the music has faded.” _The Whole Kameese
“Sunday Junkie is the latest band to form from the ashes of Not Bad Not Well and just released their debut single, ‘Vultures.’ The Worcester band (which includes Tom Martin and Shawn Pelkey of Not Bad Not Well) have crafted a sound that is truly all of their own out of some of our favorite musical elements. This new single has the disjointed post-rock of the members' previous bands, but in a kind of odd more pop based sort of way. The guitar's tuning is slightly off, and the song has a kind of jerky feeling to it, but it's also a solid power pop song. It's kind of like if At the Drive In and Cheap Trick decided to jam together. Sunday Junkie have some serious potential based on their debut single.” _If It’s Too Loud
“The ‘new’ in question today is “Haunted Head” which follows October’s ‘Vultures’ with a defining outing where Sunday Junkie deliver the kind of tunes at this stage of their relative infancy that fans will instantly recognize as theirs. For us, ‘Haunted Head’ has these Prog elements that were pretty prevalent in throwaway Nu-Metal diamonds in the rough like Pulse Ultra and The Apex Theory (and dredg to an extent) but with an Alternative sound infused at its core here with Martin’s warm bass lines interwoven with his riffs and Pelkey’s drum lines in a perfect sync that’s still a labyrinth-like aural odyssey with Martin’s yearning vocal delivery serving as the cherry on top.” _Rock And Roll Fables
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Press Contact: Michael O’Connor Marotta at michael@knyvet.com
Band Contact: Tom Martin at sundayjunkieband@gmail.com
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