Sundays & Cybele

Taking their name from the 1962 French film Les Dimanches de Ville d'Avray, Sundays & Cybele are a Japanese psychedelic rock band founded in 2004 by guitarist/vocalist Kazuo Tsubouchi. Initially based in Hokkaido, they subsequently relocated to Tokyo, and a revolving cast of musicians have passed through the band. While their music contains loud, distorted guitars, they're nowhere near as heavy as bands like Acid Mothers Temple, instead preferring a brighter, more atmospheric sound that draws from Krautrock, dub, folk-rock, and guitar heroes like Carlos Santana. Cosmic and generally optimistic, their music occasionally has a touch of melancholy and loneliness to it. First appearing with a self-titled album in 2008, the group began to receive more attention after the ambitious Gypsy House was released in 2012. Expanding their sound with the folkier Chaos & Systems in 2017, the group released the Pink Floyd-esque On the Grass in 2018. The band's self-titled debut was released by Gyuune Cassette in 2008. For this album, Tsubouchi was accompanied by bassist Masahiko Nishino and drummer Shintaro Mikami. Sundays & Cybele II, issued by Sound of Elegance, followed in 2010. The group's expansive double CD Gypsy House was released by Attalea Princeps in 2012. For this album, Tsubouchi was primarily joined by multi-instrumentalist Youhei Hayakawa and percussionist Kentaro Shima, with a few guest musicians. Cosmic Gypsy House, a dub version of the previous album, was released in 2014, with the proper album Tsubouchi appearing later in the year. In 2015, Guruguru Brain released an abridged vinyl edition of Gypsy House, and Beyond Beyond Is Beyond released a limited cassette titled Heaven, followed by a vinyl issue in 2016. In early 2017, Sky Lantern Records issued a live Sundays & Cybele cassette (Enter the Time Mirror) and Beyond Beyond Is Beyond released the studio album Chaos & Systems. Members during this era of the band included bassist Shota Mizuno, drummer Shotaro Aoki, and guitarist Yoshinao Uchida. Sundays & Cybele released On the Grass in 2018. More synth-heavy than their other releases, the album recalled Dark Side-era Pink Floyd rather than '60s psychedelia.
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