The Demonstration Tapes - First Amendment - LP

Sister Sonny is back - kind of. The Demonstration Tapes consists of Pedro Carmona-Alvarez, Lars Heintz and Fredrik Færden - all three from the Bergen-based band Sister Sonny.

"A few years ago, Fredrik had a rather silly idea – to write one song for each American state, and then release 50 songs in 2026, when the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its independence. And because we are children of the 1990s – middle-aged, nostalgic ironists with a taste for absurdism, distance, anti-glamour, and anti-ambition – we decided to go for it. We do love America – admittedly a mythical America, idealized and filtered through thousands of songs, films, and images – but still.

The whole thing took on a darker undertone when we released the first EP in the spring of 2025, just months after Trump returned to power in the U.S. We even considered changing our name to BAD TIMING PRODUCTION. We also considered making a (home-made, very
rudimentary) documentary to explain the playfulness of the project (it was going to be called IT WASN’T US, WE JUST SING, but, as they say, it boiled away in the cabbage). We’re all well aware that our core idea has taken on a strange aftertaste in light of ICE, deportations, oligarchs, and pedophile buddies.

But the main intention was simply to make music together again. And Fredrik’s idea was just silly, disarming, and open enough to make the idea of recording 50 songs feel easy. Boundaries are good for creativity, as we see it.

We’re now closing in on 50 songs, but grown men work slowly and take time to think, tweak, and finish things. So here are the first 14 songs, which make up the debut album FIRST AMENDMENT – the first of five LPs with the United States as its theme.

The two EPs we’ve already released have received some airplay on BBC, particularly championed by the legendary Mickey Bardley, bassist of The Undertones. Our songs are pop songs. Indie rock. Old-school indie. They’re silly (but not a joke!), crooked and strange in the way we like – and it’s been a genuine joy to write and record them."

Tracklist:
01. Massachusetts Magic Potion
02. New York City Cheesecake
03. Delaware Decency
04. Washington Loves Me
05. Maryland Farewell
06. California Losin´
07. There Must Be A Place In Hawaii Called Acapulco
08. Surfin´ South Dakota
09. The Minnesota Mall
10. She´s From Oregon
11. Stuck Here In Nebraska
12. Colorado River Side
13. Indiana Peggy
14. Don´t Look For Me (In Texas)

LP, Black vinyl
Released 21. November 2025