ALBUM REVIEW: Sunny War’s ‘Armageddon in a Summer Dress’ Keeps the Spirit of Resistance Burning

The world is an alarming, scary place right now. But if you’re looking to escape the turmoil, Sunny War is the last person to turn to. Fiery and blunt, this eloquent singer-songwriter delivers powerful broadsides intended to keep the spirit of resistance burning hot on the rousing Armageddon in a Summer Dress, seasoning her messages with enough positive thinking to ward off defeatism. As urgent as breaking news, this stirring album feels like it could have been recorded yesterday.

Born Sydney Ward, Sunny War has come a long way from her days busking on Venice Beach. No longer the acoustic performer who could be classified as “folk-punk” over a decade ago, she now makes records that mix of polished pop and soul with the plainspoken directness of roots music.

Armageddon in a Summer Dress reunites Sunny War with producer Andrija Tokic, who also produced her last record, Anarchist Gospel. Although guest vocalists, including John Doe, Tré Burt, and Valerie June, add a little spice, her solemn, unshowy singing – with shades of the great Nina Simone – is always the main attraction.

Things get off to a blistering start with “One Way Train,” as a doubletracked Sunny War spews rhymes at a breakneck pace, exclaiming, “They wonder why you’re tired and so full of rage / When they’d rather you be fired than be paid a living wage.” Fed up but never inclined to give up, she ponders “working class grief” in the bluesy “Bad Times” and acknowledges the massive challenge of upending the system on the somber “Walking Contradiction,” featuring vocals from Steve Ignorant of the British political punk band Crass. Noting, “We sell labor, we sell hours, sell our power, sell our souls” in the name of survival, Sunny War concludes with a provocative question: “It’s simply users and abusers, us and them, peace and war / Ain’t it funny how you don’t see them as people anymore?” If real change is possible, she suggests, the world can’t just be divided into one-dimensional good guys and bad guys.

She tempers her righteous fury with uplift, insisting, “Bad days / Go and they come / But the good do too my friend,” to a peppy beat in “Rise,” and gently exhorting a suffering soul to persevere on “Cry Baby,” saying, “Get to the other side / To your blue skies and pride.”

Other songs range far and wide, from the tall tale “Ghost,” highlighted by Jo Schornikow’s spooky organ riff, to the languid “No One Calls Me Baby,” to the sultry “Lay Your Body,” where she sighs, “Come trade me pleasure for pain.”

While Sunny War is clearly a true original, she also could be an offspring of England’s Billy Bragg, who deftly combines the political and personal in a similar way. Armageddon in a Summer Dress is a stellar effort, but her most exciting work may be yet to come.

Sunny War’s Armageddon in a Summer Dress is out Feb. 21 via New West Records.