Best known to 'ere readers as the band that featured on a split with At The Drive-In however many years ago, Sunshine are, in fact, a band very much for today. A single listen ticks enough boxes to satisfy the fussiest punk-cum-indie snob. Clattering drums? Check. Electronic squeals and bleeps? Check. Sneered, give-a-fuck vocals? Check. Punk cred'? Check...?
And therein lies Sunshine's problem - they tick too many boxes to sound entirely individual or, more importantly, like the vital band they clearly have the potential to be. So whilst 'Vampire's Dancehall', the lead track on this five-tracker, rattles and hums like a punk-pop club anthem in the making, it's all too perfect. Electric! Kill! Kill! is the bright, sparkling record that you can't help but want to scuff up, as you might a brand new pair of Reebok Classics, be you a chavvy estate kid; it's just too polished, too nice. Yeah, 'Lower Than Low' (knobs twiddled by Sneaker Pimps' Chris Corner) is an 80s-meets-90s synth-punk barnstormer, but play it twice and the feeling of dancefloor euphoria sours into something worryingly nauseating, akin to gobbling too much chocolate on Christmas morning. Only a Casey Chaos mix of 'What You've Got' really packs a raw punk punch, its rough edges and high-velocity riffs casting a menacing shadow over the surrounding tracks.
A strange case of a record needing more in the way of imperfections.
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7Mike Diver's Score