Dominic Sonic, born Garreau in Dinan (Côtes-d'Armor) in 1964, was just 16 when he joined the Breton punk band Kalashnikov. With them, he toured concert halls and festivals (including the Transmusicales de Rennes in 1983). Six years and 300 concerts later, he left the band and began working on his first solo album. Dominic signed with Crammed Discs and went to Brussels to record the album 'Cold Tears' in the label's studio. Alternating between French and English vocals, the twelve songs on the album are devilishly Stooges-esque, full of searing guitars (sometimes with a touch of The Kinks in the guitar riffs), and don't hesitate to take detours into chanson réaliste or psychedelia. They were recorded in 12 nights by Dominic Sonic and guitarist Vincent Sizorn, with the participation of A. Sloan (keyboards), Tonio Marinesco (Kalashnikov drummer), Pierre Corneau (from Marc Seberg), and Bénédicte Villain (from Passion Fodder). The album was produced by Gilles Martin (at the time, Crammed's in-house producer, who engineered many albums for Tuxedomoon, Minimal Compact, Zazou Bikaye, etc.). The album was quite successful: European sales exceeded 40,000 copies, and Dominic Sonic toured throughout France, even performing at the Olympia (opening for Noir Désir). The track "When My Tears Run Cold" was featured in an inventive music video directed by Jo Pinto Maia. Subsequently, the Barclay label bought Dominic Sonic's contract from Crammed Discs and released two albums in 1991 and 1994. Three more albums would follow in 1997, 2007, and 2015, on different labels. It is also worth noting that Dominic Sonic participated in the Transmusicales de Rennes in 2002 as a surprise guest of The Stooges, of whom he was a big fan (he even said he knew their songs better than his own), that he also performed in 2008 in the theater, alongside Jackie Berroyer, in the play 'La loi des pauvres gens', named after one of the songs from 'Cold Tears', and that the following year, he returned to the stage for a special tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of this cult album. A figure of the Rennes rock scene who had been living in Paris for about ten years, Dominic Sonic passed away on July 23, 2020. He was 55 years old. This re-release includes the 12 original tracks, as well as 5 bonus tracks, released as an EP in 1990: three live recordings ("Shadows In The Fire", "No Fun", "Praying For The Lord"), a later version of "À S'y Méprendre" and an unreleased track ("A Pain Song").
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