Sunset Valley

"I was first introduced to Sunset Valley when I moved to Seattle in 1993. I was dumbfounded at how great they were. They were the ones that got away, an undiscovered treasure of the Pacific Northwest." - Peter Buck, R.E.M.

"In the very early days of Grandaddy I found myself looking for likeminded bands, albums, peers... Sunset Valley was on that short list... I found myself studying their albums, their songs, their sound." - Jason Lytle, Grandaddy

"Herman is a wizard with the tasty jams. I want to capture him like a butterfly and study the secrets of his rocket sauce." - Jack Black

"They were from Portland, which seemed exotic. Aaron Huffman of Harvey Danger played a cassette dub of Jackass Crusher over and over in his car, and we marveled at it — so heavy and poppy and weirdly stoned. On the way back from SXSW in 2001, their as-yet-unreleased Barsuk debut, Icepond, was in constant rotation in the van. I was so obsessed with it, I actually called them and asked if I could be in the band. They demurred. It's still my favorite record from that time." - John Roderick, The Long Winters

While the cult status of Sunset Valley has grown over the years, their catalog has sadly been mostly unavailable digitally and generally out-of-print physically for years. Barsuk is excited to release Tropic of Candycorn. This five-volume digital anthology includes the band's entire catalog — The New Speed (1997), Boyscout Superhero (1998), Icepond (2001) and Goldbank 78 Stack (2003), as well as a volume of unreleased tracks, various singles and compilation tracks — to remedy this crime against indie rock.