Promising album teaser
Formed back in 1994 in the 15th Century Czech town of Tabor, Sunshine’s solar moniker was designed as a sarcastic reflection of the band’s “hard, fast and painfully aggressive” musical nature. This combative stance is set to change with the release of the supposedly upbeat and confident ‘Moonshine and Razorblades’, although the band are still keen to state that it isn’t a “sunny” album – just less abrasive.
Sunshine are probably most notable; in a Noel Edmonds’ House Party ‘claim to fame’ kind of way, for releasing a split-EP with the legendary and now sadly defunct At The Drive-In. The only real similarity to be found between the two is an uncompromising integrity; a refusal to pander to audiences or critics by simply writing and recording music that suits their own tastes, irrespective of fashions and trends. Whilst this attitude does ensure an accurate artistic representation, it can also mean a fairly unpalatable range of styles, as bands experiment and flirt with different approaches and sounds. This affinity to variety is epitomised by their choice of producer – Bernd Burgdorf; who has produced records for everyone from Tom Waits to Green Day to Pink.
Sunshine’s operatic electro-clash has strong echoes of the Cure; a dynamic explosion of near-gothic synth and desert-scorched guitars. The tracks on this promo release are taken from the forthcoming LP – we are treated to ‘Victim Is Another Name For Lover’, ‘Lower Than Low’; which has been expertly re-mixed by Chris Corner of Sneaker Pimps / I Am X fame, and the macabre ‘Vampire’s Dancehall’. The latter is the most overtly post-punk offering, with Kay’s snarling vocals encouraging sinister axe-work to create a compelling sonic dirge.
If the rest of the album is as strong as this selection of songs would suggest, then ‘Moonshine and Razorblades’ should be very fine indeed – and Sunshine can rest easy, they still don’t sound sunny.