It’s no secret that my favorite Neighbor song is Into the Sun. It was the song that originally set the hook on what I now believe is the best band performing today, the song I can always rely on, and the song I’m listening to as I write this very first blog post.
Into the Sun has it all. It has a riff that makes you feel like you’ve heard the song a thousand times before (even if it’s your first time listening). It provides ample space for improvisational exploration while still maintaining a composed narrative structure that is one of the hallmarks of why Neighbor is such a great band. It is always a joy to hear, since it really doesn’t make the rounds all too often. It’s also often a jumping-off point for the rest of the show, and its just as common to find it interwoven between multiple other songs throughout a set as it is all by its lonesome. All this and more keeps me coming back to this track at least a few times a week.
That said, with the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse fast approaching, I figured it was time to finally bring to life an idea that has been bouncing around in my head for over a year: a playlist dedicated to those songs with Into the Sun teases/jams. In other words, songs that are just not quite Into the Sun, songs that skirt around Into the Sun, songs that give you a glimpse of Into the Sun–You know, like a solar eclipse. The playlist, in its entirety, is available to download here (credits/alternate versions at the end of this post).
When deciding what would make it onto the playlist, I first-and-foremost relied on the degree to which Into the Sun was teased. Since Into the Sun has been teased at least 34 total times as of the writing of this post, some of the shorter teases aren’t included. Second, audio availability/quality played a major role here. If the recording is particularly unlistenable, it didn’t make the cut. I’d say my standards for this are pretty low, as I’ll listen to just about anything as long as there isn’t something directly taking away from the music being played, but that is probably a topic for another post. Third, one song only. Some songs, like Steel or One for the Hoop, have at least three versions including Into the Sun teases. However, for the purposes of this playlist, I only chose the one that I thought fit the other criteria best. Fourth, and certainly least important, was “stand-alone quality,” or how well a song stands alone as one track (i.e. not part of a larger sequence of strung together songs). This one is really only to minimize the amount of specific audio editing that I had to do to make this playlist shuffle without any large hiccups.
There are a few obvious contenders that any playlist of this type would be mistaken not to include due to their Into the Sun jams:
- One For The Hoop from night two of the second Into the Sun Festival, Soundcheck Studios, September 10, 2022: This particular version of One For The Hoop is what made me want to make this playlist–a 5+ minute long Into the Sun/Negative Space jam that really leaves me wanting more Into the Sun! Thankfully, an incredible Into the Sun was played only a few songs before One For The Hoop during the same show, so you can get your fix nice and quick.
- Headrush from night one of the Soundcheck Studios Residency, February 20, 2024: This version of Headrush is certainly my current favorite, even though there are many other really, really good versions of this song. A really layered Into the Sun/Negative Space jam holds down a good portion of this Headrush, and capped off a really great celebration of Sonya’s birthday.
- Stranger Part of Town from night three at Nectar’s, January 28 2023: This version of Stranger Part of Town is famous for another reason (I’ll let you guess) but has a pretty substantive Into the Sun jam towards the end. When listening, I still get confused when the song actually drops back into SPOT instead of continuing the Into the Sun jam…
- Magna Zero from night three of the second Into the Sun festival, Soundcheck Studios, September 11, 2022: This festival, particularly this set, is jam-packed with Into the Sun teases. However, this Magna Zero (feat. Dana Cauley) stands alone because of just how amazing this entire jam sequence is, including the Into the Sun teases. This is by far my favorite Magna Zero, even over the few versions teasing Zappa’s “Cyborg.”
- Ulsa from night two at Nectar’s, January 27, 2023: Like the Into the Sun festival, this Nectar’s run is absolutely packed with Into the Sun teases (and teases generally). This Ulsa contains a breakdown jam that starts with Into the Sun before hitting another 4 or 5 teases prior to moving back into Ulsa. Just an absolute scorcher.
After those versions, the second tier of inclusions mostly were chosen because the Into the Sun tease added something notable to the song itself, not just in an already expansive jam:
- Lonely Rider from night two of Camp Deep End, Camp Navarro, September 18, 2022: This version of Lonely Rider has two specific Into the Sun teases, each of which are intertwined in the main riff of Lonely Rider (one near the beginning, one at the very end). Even though this version of Lonely Rider is shorter than the average Lonely Rider, the teases still meaningfully add to the song in a creative way, so I thought it was nice to include here
- Steel from night three of Nectar’s, January 28, 2023: Like the Lonely Rider preceding it, this version of Steel doesn’t have too much Into the Sun teased, but Lyle does throw it in between verses 1 and 2 as well as underlying verse 3. This Into the Sun tease really adds to Steel, and is definitely worth inclusion in this playlist.
I debated whether to include the next three, but ultimately decided that covers could have a shot to make this playlist, too.
- On Your Way Down from night three of the second Into the Sun Festival, Soundcheck Studios, September 11, 2022: This cover of Little Feat’s On Your Way Down (feat. Dana Cauley) is probably my favorite version of any of the Little Feat covers that Neighbor has ever performed. The saxophone integration are *chefs kiss* and it manages to build into a sizable jam despite the slowed down, soft rhythm.
- Ain’t It Funky Now from Ardmore Music Hall, November 5, 2022: This version of Ain’t it Funky Now is almost like a “Lite” version of the Into the Sun jam from One For The Hoop above. Not nearly as long, and with no Negative Space jam included, it may seem to pale in comparison to One For The Hoop. But, with Danny Meyer sitting in on guitar and a whole lot more jam than just the part quoting Into the Sun, there are a lot of really good reasons to include this track.
- Electric Funeral from The Drake, March 1, 2024: This cover of Black Sabbath’s Electric Funeral has a nice Into the Sun lick that, while short, fits perfectly with the rest of the jam, and ultimately the rest of the song. If I had to choose the weakest inclusion on this playlist, it would be this Electric Funeral, but it still manages to sneak its way onto the list.
Of course, this is all based on my personal opinion, and I will add that none of these teases or songs are “better” than one another–each version of each song is unique, and each has their own unique qualities! The only position I’ll take is that Neighbor is the best band performing today, which I believe is a fact (but the definition of fact vs. opinion would seem to indicate that it is an “opinion”). Let me know if you think I’m missing any songs, if you think any of the songs I included should not have been included, or if you have any ideas for what I should write about next.
Special credit to Tim Rusteika and everyone who made https://neighbortunes.net/ possible–it is one of the only reasons I can even figure out information like this.
Appreciation to the band themselves is also due, as they are the motor that drives this entire thing! Thanks Ricky, Lyle, Dan, and Dean for all you do.
Credits/Alternate Versions:
- One for the Hoop, 9/10/2022: Mike Boge Matrix (alternate multitrack Soundboard version on Nugs)
- Magna Zero, 9/11/2022: Mike Boge Matrix (alternate multitrack Soundboard version on Nugs)
- On Your Way Down, 9/11/2022: Mike Boge Matrix (alternate multitrack Soundboard version on Nugs)
- Lonely Rider, 9/18/2022: Camp Deep End Youtube (alternate multitrack Soundboard version on Nugs)
- Ain’t It Funky Now, 11/5/2022: Rich Stoler Soundboard (alternate multitrack Soundboard version on Nugs)
- Ulsa, 1/27/2023: Mike D Audience (alternate multitrack Soundboard version on Bandcamp)
- Stranger Part of Town, 1/28/2023: Andy Murray/John Lynch Audience (alternate multitrack Soundboard version on Bandcamp)
- Steel, 1/28/2023: Andy Murray/John Lynch Audience (alternate multitrack Soundboard version on Bandcamp)
- Headrush, 2/20/2024: Mike Boge Matrix
- Electric Funeral, 3/1/2024: Mike Boge Matrix
Views from the Hot Air Balloon 