Maybe you first heard classic soul and R&B music on a transistor AM radio in the late 1960s. Or perhaps you discovered doo-wop through the 1970s oldies revival, courtesy of the film American Graffiti and the hit retro television sitcom Happy Days.
However you found your way to this vast umbrella of rhythm and blues sounds—from The Stylistics, The Delfonics, Eddie Holman, and The Dells to The Paragons, The Jesters, and even War—you would be wise to give East L.A.’s fantastic modern soul sensations, Thee Sinseers, a listen. Their sophomore album, Love Stories, on Colemine Records, is another musical journey that feels like channel-surfing across an alternate-universe radio dial circa 1969.
Part of a nationwide “souldies” scene, Thee Sinseers are among the premier bands in a movement that combines fresh songwriting with a deep reverence for musical history and tradition. Led by Joey Quiñones, this collective is remarkably faithful to the era, right down to its vintage instrumentation and period production techniques—from vibrato-drenched guitars, horn sections, and shimmering orchestral strings to lush, reverb-soaked vocal harmonies.
Love Stories plants its earworms early, beginning with the album’s opener, “Oh Love,” which features an Otis Redding-worthy introduction and the irresistible chorus hook, “love was meant for everyone.” “Let ’Em Shine” would have made Brian Wilson smile, while “Minute By Minute” pays homage to Don & Juan’s 1961 hit “What’s Your Name.”
Picture-perfect from start to finish, Love Stories closes with the instrumental “While You Were Sleeping,” a heartfelt homage to Santo & Johnny’s 1959 smash hit “Sleep Walk.” It’s a fitting conclusion to an album that celebrates the sounds of another era without simply recycling them.
The packaging for Love Stories is every bit as charming as the music, featuring a die-cut photo frame design that encourages listeners to insert their own family photograph into the inner sleeve. This kind of creativity harkens back to the 1960s and ’70s, when artists and record labels went the extra mile to make an album a complete visual and musical experience. It’s a thoughtful touch that recalls one of the great pleasures of physical media, something largely lost on a streaming generation that rarely gets to experience album artwork as anything more than a thumbnail on a screen.
You can get Love Stories on vinyl from Amazon for about $26.98 or CD for just $11.79. While there, grab Sinseerly Yours on vinyl or CD. You can also find many fun color vinyl variant and deluxe editions at Colemine Records.
Thee Sinseers are on tour now so do try to see them live (click here for tour dates). I’m excited to see their November 6th show here at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium (which will be my third time seeing them on stage!). Given Love Stories’s lush slow burn and the super chill pace of Joey Quiñones’ solo album (which I reviewed earlier this year), I suspect the show will mine that same mellow lowrider vibe.
Yet, I’m also prepared for the unexpected because the first time I saw Thee Sinseers they launched into a tight soul review sensation that would have made James Brown and Tina Turner proud! Yes, this band is that good. Go see them. Support independent music.
Our Ratings
★★★★★★★★★★ Music
★★★★★★★★★★ Sound
★★★★★★★★★★ Packaging
Where to Buy:
Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. He reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc. You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.
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ORT
October 27, 2026 at 5:59 pm
If I may be blunt? No…Not Emily Blunt and not the kind of
“blunt” found in fingers of loadies but the kind of blunt that is far too often missing in the real world for faux fear of fooking it up.
This album and this group pays decent homage to the musical and vocal styling that was the ’60s and ’70s. The music industry has long since (here comes Da TROOF!) “souled out” to that even more disgusting modern version of Beatnik “poetry” called Rap and Hip Hop. Both are nothing but cRap and deserve to be flushed down the toilet never to be heard of nor smelled again.
The finest song ever written and performed was put out in 1973 by The Spinners and the title? “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love”. Nothing on this fine album by The Sinseers is close to that but, and this isn’t a big booty, they are on the right track.
And for the vinyl, I am not damning The Sinseers with faint praise.
I see what I’ve done there, but does anyone else…
ORT