Sullen (band)


Sullen was a punk rock band from St. Louis, Missouri, based around two singers and guitarists: Justin Slazinik and Shanna Kiel.

History

Slazinik and Kiel met in high school, and started playing live shows together in 1999. After releasing two cassette singles and recording two demos, they released their debut album Paint the Moon on Thick Records in May 2003. The album featured Scott Freeman on drums and Tommy Schmitz on bass guitar. The band played its last show on February 27, 2004 at the Creepy Crawl, and announced their breakup the following day. After the band broke up, Kiel started another band, Sibylline, with another friend, and the two of them moved to Los Angeles in 2005. In 2006, Kiel posted on stlpunk.com that Sullen had gotten back together.

Critical reception

Johnny Loftus, writing for Allmusic, gave Paint the Moon 2.5 out of 5 stars, writing that "While Sullen has rage to spare and has mastered the quiet/loud, female/male dynamic, the band's influences bleed through the fabric on most tracks ." Writing for Exclaim!, Shawn Merrill called Sullen "the demon child of Sonic Youth" and described Paint the Moon as "Not a quintessential release, but an engaging one." A reviewer named Megan, writing for Punknews.org, gave the album 5 out of 5 stars. In her review, Megan said that Sullen "absolutely blows any competition out of the water" on the album and praised it for being "rough around the edges".

Discography