GREAT DEAD BANDS - The Sarnos

Another San Francisco band that made a name for itself in the early 90's. The group's core was the trio of Sam Koritz, Dennis Blyth and Don Deaveau; when I first saw them at the Hotel Utah, that was augmented with additional members Liz Kennedy (vocals) and usually a couple of other instrumentalists.

That first lineup is reflected in a 6 song ep released by Heyday Records.



1) She's A Witch
2) Candy
3) So-Called Friends
4) You May Be Right
5) Criminal
6) Just A Ghost

Clever, almost snarky (if the word was in use then) pop songs, including a cover of the Billy Joel hit from GLASS HOUSES.


The next releases had the band stripped down to a trio, and a new label, Hairy Records.
They hadn't lost their sense of humor, as you can see from the song selection:



There was another single, Kiss Me Sunbeam/Sunflower, but I've not turned that one up as of yet, as well as songs on a Hairy Records compilation.

Singles, of course, led to a album release, the only 'full' album that I know of. It includes a couple of the singles songs, and another version of "Just A Ghost".



1) Kiss Me Sunbeam
2) Cigarette Girl
3) Idaho
4) Just A Ghost
5) Honey
6) Leopard Girl
7) Volcanoes
8) So Alive
9) Volcanoes (J.P. Dub version)

Sam Koritz maintains a blog and a MySpace page.

The (almost compleat) Sarnos