Night Music from Sunshine.
Having had an unhealthy preoccupation with the 80s since....well, the 80s!,to my delight we've seen a whole resurgence of that fateful decade and the "New Wave" thing. At first I thought this was great. That's because at first, the bands that had reverted in homage to the days of 20 years before, were once again sounding fresh, unique and inspired. Unfortunately it seemed that suddenly everyone had caught on. A distinct over saturation of the 80s on the radio. Even the entire pop scene returning to the synth-pop days of yore. Before we knew it, we'd all dug out our puffball skirts and leg-warmers.
After the grunge of the 90s and lots of other "serious" music...gangsta rap and the current pseudo-jazz starlets (Cullum and Co.), this whole 80s vibe seemed frivolous and totally OTT!. It was all quite fabulous and in the end even Duran, Duran couldn't resist releasing a single; the UK public ripe with anticipation. As is always the case, you can have too much of a good thing. So you'd think that Sunshine and their own brand of 80s trash, would have timed it slightly wrong, not quite hopping on the band wagon quick enough.
As soon as I stick this EP on, I am overwhelmed by extremely slick programming and delightfully warm and fuzzy guitars. Singer Kay's vocals are totally infectious. Propelled along by a rudimentary, yet kicking techno beat, he sounds like Holly Johnson and "Vampire's Dancehall" whips you into such a frenzy that 'Frankie says "Relax!
By the time "Victimisanothernameforlover" has started, I'm completely sold on Sunshine. Maybe it's the Eastern Bloc stoicism. "Electric! Kill! Kill!" has the delightful melodies and darkness of New Order and the Mode, whilst the sumptuous sounds of Kraftwerk.
I'm taken back to the very first programmed sounds I'd heard and thinking how I'd never experienced anything quite like it. This was the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test for ears! The likes of Jean Michel Jarre paved the way so that the world would end up with pop in the guise of The Pet Shop Boys and eventually the whole acid-house revolution.
Sunshine both embody the New Wave sound; in homage to and yet sounding as though they are right on the cusp of it. How can something so dated sound so cutting-edge? I'm not sure, but under the watchful guise of uber-programmer/producer Bernd Burgdorf, (Green Day, Tom Waits, Pink), you can't help but feel that Sunshine's very essence of being is in good hands. With "Electric! Kill! Kill!" the future IS now. It's just funny that the EP sounds like a precursor to Pop Will Eat Itself or early Prodigy.
You see, the thing is, with the 80s there was just so much going on, particularly in the arts. It seemed that the uneducated or misinformed just weren't ready, especially when it came to electroacoustic music. But now, in the noughties, well Sunshine make me want to dig out an Atari 'cause this might just be what the world has been waiting for.