Sunshine Frisbee Lazerbeam-Blackout Cowboy
Now five-piece (used to be three), Birmingham based band Sunshine Frisbee Lazerbeam have long operated just inside my radar, the band first piqued my interest with a series of Tye-dye shirt competitions (which I failed to win), then have stoked my fires, the prolific output of music, here was a band that was seemingly delivering new tunes by the day (over a hundred songs written) and most hit home. A year or so ago I curated a night for Worcester Music Festival and there on the database was the Birmingham quintet and I scrawled their name down on a far too lengthy wishlist and unfortunately for my local town folk (and indeed myself) I could find no way to shoehorn them onto a brim bursting line-up.
The band continued to plough on, writing, recording and performing across Birmingham and beyond, a couple of lo-fi EP's, a self-titled album and a Halloween single all appeared, as the band picked up traction and admirers in equal measure, somehow the band's music found it's way to a brand new record label, By The Time It Gets Dark Records and the stars began to align. The band then took a look back at their genre defying back catalogue and lifted all the best bits and used them as a foundation to piece together a brand new eight-track affair, that's destined to propel the band to dizzy new heights.
The album is a short, sharp, indie love affair, weaving fuzzy riffs, addictive licks, sun-kissed harmonies and instant choral hooks into a glorious, frenetic twenty-eight minute package that will have you scrambling for the repeat as the last chords ring out. From the opening power-pop rush of Running From A Ghost the band summon memories of a spunkier Apples In Stereo mashed with new guy Junior Laidley's former band Johnny Foreigner, the aforementioned harmonies unexpectedly join the riffage, lifting the track further, gripping the listener from the get go. From such an excitable opening salvo, the band hit the thick fuzz-pedal for a deliciously foggy slab of shoegaze in the form of All The Way Over The Edge, as the band fight through with keen melodies, the frontman tells us 'it's fine, I'm fine, Bros don't talk about anything' proving there's substance as well as style in abundance if you sit and really listen, alternatively you could throw yourself around and still get a hell of alot out of the song.
The oddly named Meatloaf To The Cameras weighs in at five and half minutes and could wrap up the musical ethos of Sunshine Frisbee Lazerbeam in one handy grab bag. It opens with a wave of shimmering indie guitar riffs, changes pace with a hefty pound of the drums, swaggering to a punchy group hollered mantra of 'until we kiss, everything's fine', before twisting and turning again towards psych tinged alternative rock and a collection of wordless, choral harmonies that infect the subconscious and urge you to lend your voice to the contagious swirl. Adult Memory Oww follows and whilst it's predecessor spins and lurches in new directions, this one is a two and half minute concentrated punky, alt rock throb, complete with muscular riffs and a chant along refrain that, when played live, is pretty much guaranteed to have the converted bouncing off the walls, whilst the band beat their instruments into a wired state of delirium. The title track sees the band throw everything and the kitchen sink into a startling frenzy that features bites of classic rock, seventies new wave, glam and even hardcore punk as rolling drums clatter against a flurry of guitars, keys and increasingly animated vocals as the band let everything off the leash for a dizzying crescendo of essential noise.
If that wasn't already enough, the band round off proceedings with a gallop through the Frank Black, name-checking, MK Ultra, before seguing into one final slab of psychedelic Mind Control (that's rather like a fairground Flaming Lips with added spoken word vocals), by which point Sunshine Frisbee Lazerbeam should have brainwashed and addled your brain completely into believing that they've just released one of the most essential albums of the year (oh and they have!!).
www.sunshinefrisbeelaserbeam.com