Beach Rockers Sandollar Channel San Diego’s Culture on New Album Sunny Day, Out July 17
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (XX MAY 2026): Embodying the Southern California sand, surf, and music culture, beach rockers Sandollar will drop their new album, Sunny Day, on July 17 via Pacific Records. The 13 tracks blending reggae, surf rock, funk, and hip-hop were written by the band’s Baron Lunbeck and produced by Brian Witkin and Donna Daly. Sunny Day celebrates the sun‑drenched, free‑spirited energy of San Diego through stories of connection, escape, and self‑discovery.
Two instant‑grat tracks will roll out ahead of the album. On Friday (May 15), the uplifting, inspirational anthem “Up Up” featuring rapper Dizzy Wright becomes available. The song is a reimagined fan favorite from Sandollar’s 2013 Roller Coaster Ride, their Pacific Records debut. The good‑times title track featuring reggae and island‑music singer‑songwriter KBong (Stick Figure) follows on June 12 alongside the “Sunny Day” video. A behind‑the‑scenes look at the recording session and video shoot arrives this Friday.
Every Sandollar song begins with Lunbeck, the band’s lead vocalist-keyboardist-guitarist, who spends most days at Black’s Beach riding waves at the legendary cliffside locale. “I view songwriting as a challenge. I like to be introspective and try to express feelings, situations, etc. with as few words as possible. Often, I hear the melodies in my head and write the music first followed by the lyrics. Our songs carry the message of riding the wave and taking things as they come.”
Then Lunbeck brings in the band, his mates since they met in a high school wood shop class: guitarist Marco Rodrigues, guitarist-vocalist David Basham, drummer-vocalist Henry Ortiz, and bassist Max Damkoehler. Together they craft taut rhythms and grooves, buoyant melodies, and high-energy, feel-good tunes.
The party begins with the sun‑soaked “California,” a fiery blend of funk, bluesy electric guitar, and Hammond B3. “I’ll Be There” is a reggae-tinged loyalty pledge.
“It’s important to have someone in your corner who provides support during challenging times. The world needs more of that, especially right now,” said Lunbeck, who said that “Sunny Day” is inspirational in that “someone or something could add sunshine to your day.”
The festival-inspired “Midnight” is an aggressive rocker that offers an escape under the cover of darkness. Lunbeck said, “The lyrics come from attending a lot of shows. People get into the music and loosen up at midnight. Whether it be dancing or surfing, it helps you forget about your troubles for a while.”
“Light It Up” is a motivational tune set to reggae beats seared with electric guitar.
“It’s a very optimistic song about loving your life and not letting challenges get to you. The song invites the listener to find their dreams and then light them up — breathe energy into them so that they become your reality,” said Lunbeck.
The frenetic “SkateNSurfin” pays homage to skate and surf culture inherent to the fabric of SoCal. Sandollar revisits a 2020 single from their catalogue titled “So Dangerous,” which gets reimagined here.
“It’s about me having interest in a girl who turns out to be a free spirit. She is elusive and seems to be into ‘situationships’ more than committed relationships,” Lunbeck offered.
The message of “Soul Soar” is two-part. “One is the importance of letting go and being free, a release that will lift you up. The song also addresses the double-edged sword of technology and its effect on your soul. Tech can be useful in life though it can also overwhelm you if you’re not careful.”
Last October, Sandollar teamed with R&B/reggae singer-songwriter Kela Sako to release an acoustic collection of duets titled Sun Sets Vol. 1: An Acoustic Session. The set spawned a “he said, she said” love song called “Glitter” that appears on Sunny Day in its electric form.
For all the positivity on the new album, “Follow” gets vulnerable and expresses some doubts. Lunbeck explains, “It’s a metaphor for going ‘all in’ on a person and yet you realize that it still may not work. The roses mentioned in the lyrics are symbolic of this feeling. I can only afford eleven roses so I feel like I’m coming up short and can’t do enough to make her happy.”
Inspired after attending an overnight music festival, “Space Alien” offers a humorous take on the occasionally bizarre things that happen at such events.
The album closes with “Time Bomb,” a meditation on relationships, according to Lunbeck. “When I wrote ‘Time Bomb,’ I was thinking about a past crazy relationship. We’ve all had toxic connections that are ticking along the road to failure. In a way, all relationships —whether romantic or non-romantic — have ‘time bomb’ elements.”
Sandollar has a full promotional slate of media and concert appearances in Southern California to help launch Sunny Day beginning in June with a UCLA Radio interview and performance. The band’s Beach Break Sessions performance will debut online later in the month. San Diego alternative rock station 91X will have Lunbeck in-studio for an interview in July to promote Sandollar’s local headlining performances at Kate Sessions Park (July 19) and Pioneer Park (July 24). The album release will be officially feted in August with a show at San Diego’s The Holding Company.
Formed in 2006, Sandollar released their self-titled debut album in 2010. When Roller Coaster Ride was released, it entered the iTunes Reggae Albums chart at No. 7. Sandollar’s 2023 album, Under The Water, won the Best World Music Album at the San Diego Music Awards while the album’s single, “Warrior,” garnered a Song of the Yearnomination. They received a 2025 San Diego Music Award nomination for Best World Music Artist. Sandollar’s trademark beach rock sound has been featured on such television series as CBS’s Magnum PI and Netflix’s Outer Banks.
Sunny Day was recorded in Los Angeles at the Foo Fighters’ Studio 606 where it was engineered and mixed by John Lousteau, co-engineered by Charlie LoPresti, and mastered by Phil Feinman. The guest features by KBong and Dizzy Wright were recorded in San Diego at The Music Company (TMC) with Jack Pawela engineering. The album was executive produced by Michael Marchi and TMC’s Ted Pawela.
Sunny Day captures Sandollar at a pivotal moment as their beach‑rock identity pushes San Diego’s music culture onto the national stage.
Sandollar’s Sunny Day contains the following songs:
“California”
“I’ll Be There”
“Sunny Day”
“Midnight”
“Light It Up”
“SkateNSurfin”
“So Dangerous”
“Soul Soar”
“Glitter”
“Up Up”
“Follow”
“Space Alien”
“Time Bomb”
To pre-save the album, visit https://orcd.co/sunnydayalbum.
For more information, visit www.sandollartheband.com.
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