1. Michael Scott: Vocals
2. Paris Delane: Vocals
3. Sam Hogan: Vocals
4. David Resnik: Lead Guitar
5. Dan Pritzker: Rhythm Guitar
6. Chris "Hambone" Cameron: Keyboards
7. Erik Scott: Bass
8. Hank Guaglianone: Drums

The story I've heard goes like this: Dan Pritzker was walking out of an El station in Chicago when he saw these three guys - Scott, Delane and Hogan - performing gospel songs on the street. He was impressed enough to invite them to join his rock group. As a result, Sonia Dada is an eight-piece group fusing rock and gospel music (along with various other sources, at times).

Pritzker is their lead songwriter, but all members contribute substantially to the performance. Michael Scott is the lead vocalist for the most part, but Delane handles most of the really high and the really low parts, and Hogan sings harmonies and a few leads. Resnik is an outstanding guitarist with a diverse range of sounds and styles. Cameron, similarly, is at home both on piano and organ (the band doesn't make much use of synthesizers). Erik Scott and Guaglianone are a very competent rhythm section. As a whole, the band works very well at playing off each other and jamming.

The band is an outstanding live act, which I've seen several times. Unfortunately, it was reported during their late-1997 tour that Hogan had left the group due to a cocaine addiction. He was replaced (at least for the tour) by Shawn Christopher, a woman who had provided backing vocals on their first two albums.

Sonia Dada
© 1995, Capricorn Records, Produced by Daniel Laszlo (aka Daniel Pritzker)

Sonia Dada's first, self-titled album is a potpourri of a lot of different music. Two tracks have become signature pieces for them: "You Don't Treat Me No Good" and "You Ain't Thinking About Me", which are typical of the band's bread-and-butter songs: Musically intricate pieces with a strong melody and melancholy lyrics about life, love and relationships. The more delicate "The Edge Of The World" covers similar ground, but showcases the vocals more strongly.

"Jungle Song" is a stompy number which lyrically is nonsense, but who cares? The remainder of the album is quite varied, and works to different degrees; "Cut It Up & Cry" is a popular live, bluesy number, but it doesn't do much for me. "We Treat Each Other Cruel" is a darker piece which leads off the album and is very different from the rest of their work.

Overall, this debut is a strong, but not especially outstanding album. Fortunately, better was yet to come...

A Day At The Beach, with its hard-edged cover of a man tied up gangland-style and being thrown into the water to "swim wit' da fishes", yielded two good singles. "Screaming John" is a strong, guitar-driven piece which may be the band's best song to this point. "Lester's Methadone Clinic", on the other hand, is a light, vocal-driven, rhythmic piece which makes great use of Paris Delane's vocal range.

But the rest of the album is equally strong. "Sail Away" starts with a cutting guitar riff by Resnik, and builds a much more complex piece on top of it. "Planes & Satellites" is a touching song about looking (and dreaming) outwards; the only knock on this song is that it's even better live. "Anna Lee" and "Last Parade (Crazy Lady)" are at once serious and silly in their tone, while "The River Runs Slow", "Amazing Jane" and "Wishing Tree" are all strong pieces based - as usual - in the band's strong vocalists.

A Day At The Beach represents a quantum leap beyond the band's debut album; I'm eagerly awaiting whatever they have planned next.