Bonny Doon are back with their first new material in four years, the easygoing “San Francisco.” The Detroit trio’s debut single on ANTI- Records features Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield, members of Woods, and other friends of the band.
The band’s journey to this point explains much about how they arrived at “San Francisco.” Bill Lennox (vocals, guitar), Bobby Colombo (vocals, guitar) and Jake Kmiecik (drums) released their self-titled debut as Bonny Doon in 2017, and began performing as Waxahatchee’s backing band and released the acclaimed Longwave the following year. Lennox and Colombo collaborated closely with Crutchfield on Waxahatchee’s 2020-standout album Saint Cloud, writing many of its guitar arrangements.
“San Francisco” feels like a product of that cross-pollination in many ways: Bonny Doon lean further than ever into rustic Americana, with tinny piano (arranged by John Andrews) and hand percussion framing their breezy acoustic guitar. Lennox’s wistful vocals find him focused on the places he’s left behind, as well as the future he’s still seeking: “You know you sure can’t put a price on / The things that make you feel alive,” he observes, ever in search of something no one area code can claim.
“I moved to the Bay Area in 2018 and for the first time in a while, we had one foot somewhere other than Detroit,” Colombo recalls in a statement, continuing:
We spent a lot of time on the West Coast, which found its way into the writing, and also provided some distance to reflect more deeply on our hometown. “San Francisco” is both a nod to this personal chapter and also an observation about how places like San Francisco and Detroit are being transformed by capital, and how people are figuring out how to keep existing within that change.
Bonny Doon have a series of northeastern U.S. tour dates set for later this month, including a hometown show at Detroit’s El Club?, and stops in Baltimore, Brooklyn and Philadelphia.
Check out “San Francisco” below, along with Bonny Doon’s 2017 Daytrotter session and upcoming tour dates.
Bonny Doon Tour Dates:
September
21 – Detroit, MI @ El Club
22 – Lakewood, OH @ Mahall’s
23 – Baltimore, MD @ Current
24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere Zone 1
25 – Accord, NY @ Woodsist Festival
26 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
