Sunshine: Velvet Suicide

Sunshine
Velvet Suicide
Big Wheel Recreation
2001-03-20

Heavy on the post-punk elements yet lacking the “aura” of true greatness, the Eastern European trio Sunshine has recorded a thoroughly good bunch of songs for an album entitled Velvet Suicide. Prerequisite swipes from Joy Division, Gang of Four and latter-day heroes like the VSS make for a tasteful, conventionally unconventional sound on tracks like “Film”, and “Moon*Love*Gravity”, which employ sweet melodies and loads of axe n’ vox effects to satisfy most post-punk geeks.

I vaguely remember seeing this band play years ago, and if I recall correctly, the singer/guitarist threw a shitfit on stage because something was awry with the sound, but my memory is lacking. Regardless, the vocals are sung in English with just a tinge of accent that makes them all the more enjoyable and the band has some cool sing titles with “Adventures with Her Stereo”, and “Hero ’78”.

A bunch of songs fall flat however, with lack of anything pulling the music out of a swirling nebula of reverb-drench guitar, mid-tempo beats, and vocal effects. However, all things considered, this is a fine release from your friends at Big Wheel Recreation.