The Sonder Bombs End Their Year at The Grog Shop in Cleveland

The Grog Shop is one of those places where all you have to do is say the name to almost anyone in the Cleveland area and immediately they will begin listing all the bands they’ve seen there and all the memories they have made. The Grog, as us Clevelanders like to call it, has hosted bands as big as Twenty One Pilots, to locals with a guitar who were able to book an opening slot. Chances are, if you’re a musician or in a band in northeast Ohio, you’ve been to or performed at the Grog.

And this is no exception for Cleveland’s own indie-punk rockers, The Sonder Bombs.

After their 15-show tour across the country in October/November, The Sonder Bombs ended off one of their biggest years yet at the Grog Shop on December 29th, with support from Youth Pallet and Solon. This was their first show since ending their trek across America in November. Along with touring the country, they also released a new single, The Star, on September 19th. I was lucky enough to catch the second show of the tour, also a hometown show in Lakewood, Ohio back in October, when I did photos for my friends’ band who was opening for them. Needless to say, when they announced an end-of-year hometown show, I jumped at the opportunity to do photos for them, especially at one of my favorite venues.

Solon

At around 8:15, after some technical difficulties, Solon took the stage. They were like no other band I’ve seen before. A three piece group from Cleveland, Solon blends lo-fi beats and instrumentals with poppy, reverbed vocals and occasional screaming. Not to mention, stage presence I haven’t seen even massive career acts match. Their set started off easy and mellow, and about halfway through they played an unreleased song, For You. After that the energy ramped up and the show devolved into the entire venue jumping and the singer diving into the crowd and climbing on the PA system. The best way I can go about describing their show is simply chaotic in the most fun way possible.

Solon can be found on Instagram, heard on Soundcloud and Spotify and you can find upcoming shows here.

Youth Pallet

At 9, after the energy from the first opener started to die down, Youth Pallet came on. They are a perfect example of what I like to call “the Cleveland Sound.” While other regions have sounds similar to ours, the Cleveland Sound stands out as just how many of our local bands fall into this category and how our placement in the middle of the Rust Belt influences our overall culture. This style falls under what I would best describe as bedroom indie-punk, with uptempo, crunchy guitars and catchy, pop inspired vocals.

Youth Pallet embodies this sound very well, with songs like Leave Your Light On being a perfect display of the distinctive sound of northeast Ohio.

You can find Youth Pallet on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and listen to them on Spotify and Bandcamp.

The Sonder Bombs

Take everything that I said previously about the Cleveland sound, and throw in a ukulele and you have The Sonder Bombs. Formed by singer/frontwoman Willow Hawks and guitarist Jimmy Lo-Fi, the band is possibly one of the biggest to embrace this regional sound. To date they have released two full length albums, 2018’s MODERN FEMALE ROCKSTAR and 2021’s Clothbound, as well as two EPs and a live album.

Finally, at about 9:50, The Sonder Bombs entered the ring. They started off with the mellow, ukulele driven Papillion, warming the crowd up for what was to come. The mood began to change as the band seamlessly switched into the 1960’s inspired intro to Crying is Cool, a song about embracing emotion and mental health even when social stigma pushes against being open about your struggles.

After a short break of crowd banter, drummer Jer Berkin pounded off the beginning of Vegas, BABY!!!!, a high energy punk song that got the crowd quickly on their feet. From one high energy song to the next, the ukulele began ringing once again with Atom, the opening track off of their debut album. In my opinion, this song is the perfect blend of catchy guitar riffs, punk rock drumming, and yes, a ukulele (if it is not abundantly clear by now, the uke is the signature instrument of The Sonder Bombs).

Following the ukulele theme, the band began one of their most popular songs, U(ke) is Not Enough, getting the crowd jumping with its extremely high energy and catchy, slightly distorted uke riff. From here, after more crowd banter, they began a more mellow and laid back but by far their most popular song, Twinkle Lights, which deals with trauma at a young age.

Next came Willow putting down her ukulele for an acoustic guitar for their newest single, The Star, an acoustic driven, indie rock inspired song that launched their Fall 2022 tour. Even being their newest song, it was clear that The Star was a crowd favorite that is sure to remain in future setlists. Closing in on the end of the night, the band performed a currently unreleased song, Melting, which the crowd greatly enjoyed, especially after already hearing an unreleased song earlier in the night from Solon.

Finally, as this high energy and slightly chaotic (again, thank you Solon) night at The Grog Shop came to a close, The Sonder Bombs closed off with Title, a traditional punk song with a modern lyrical twist of being a frontwoman in a largely male dominated genre.

Make sure to catch up with The Sonder Bombs on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and you can listen to their music on Spotify and Bandcamp and find upcoming shows here.