Reunited Beachwood Sparks to join Cold War Kids, Broken Social Scene at Sunset Junction

Beachwood Sparks, the L.A.-based band that breathed some new life into California psychedelia in the early part of this decade, will play the Sunset Junction Street Festival in August as part of a reformation that will see the group begin work on its third full-length album.

"It just feels like everybody involved, including the audience and the fans, are ready for it," singer-bassist Brent Rademaker says from Tampa, Fla., the hometown to which he returned two years ago. "We started the process a while back, and when Chris [Gunst]  came down for my wedding, we said, 'You know, we've got to get Beachwood Sparks started again.' "

According to the festival's website, Cold War Kids, Broken Social Scene, the Black Keys and Kinky are acts confirmed so far to play Sunset Junction, the annual street fair on Sunset Boulevard in  Silver Lake. This year's dates are Aug. 23-24.

Beachwood Sparks never actually broke up, but the band has been idle since 2003. It released two albums and an EP on Sub Pop, which announced last spring that the group would reunite to play July 13 in Seattle in honor of the label's 20th birthday. It turns out -- and Rademaker acknowledged the band wasn't quite certain of this -- that Beachwood Sparks is still under contract to Sub Pop for a third album. Now he says the band is aiming to hit the studio this winter -- somewhere around an Australian tour, the details of which have not yet been announced.

During Beachwood Sparks' down time, its members have been involved, variously, with bands such as Mystic Chords of Memory, the Tyde, Frausdots and All Night Radio, among others. The reunion shows will likely go off without key member Farmer Dave Scher, who is working as the touring keyboardist for Interpol. The lineup will look something like this: Rademaker (vocals/bass), Gunst (vocals/guitar), Aaron Sperske (drums), Jen Cohen Gunst (Gunst's wife and collaborator in Mystic Chords, on keys), Ben Knight (guitar) and Dan Horne (pedal steel).

No word yet on which night Beachwood Sparks will play. Stay tuned for lineup updates.

||| Download: Beachwood Sparks' "Confusion Is Nothing."

-- Kevin Bronson

Photo courtesy of Sub Pop