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Friday Full-Length: Silver Sunshine, Silver Sunshine

Comprised of guitarist/vocalists Conor Riley and Richard Vaughan (also organ, mellotron, bass, percussion, various noises, etc.), bassist/vocalist Stuart Scatler and drummer Jain Scatler, Silver Sunshine is the band out of which San Diego’s more progressively-rocking Astra grew. I’ll admit to having never heard their 2004 self-titled debut until a few weeks ago in discussion in the Obelisk group (gronp) on Facebook when their name came up because Riley, in addition to having been in Astra, is shortly to make his debut in the band Birth, with Born on July 15 (release info here).

The legacy and influence of Astra‘s two albums, 2009’s The Weirding (review here, discussed here) and 2012’s The Black Chord (review here), shouldn’t be underestimated. Particularly in the San Diego heavy psychedelic underground, the work of Riley alongside Brian Ellis — the two reunited in Birth — has had a broad reach and informed many an act of the gorgeousness that can ensue when Mellotrons are put to such noble purpose. Of course Astra‘s work was never just simply about that one instrument — this is me, not underestimating it — the serene, ’70s-derived sound of the band was legitimately as much ahead of as it was out of its own time. And if you ever got to see the band live, they were no mere studio fluke.

I tell you this not to hype up Birth, who don’t need it from the likes of me, but to establish a context for the surprise that listening to Silver Sunshine‘s self-titled was. Comprised of 11 songs, the album runs a tidy-for-the-tail-end-of-the-CD-era 42 minutes and where Astra‘s title-track to The Weirding was 15 minutes long and not the longest cut on that record, nothing here tops five minutes, and true to the alternate timeline on which RileyVaughan and Stuart Scatler — all three of whom would go from this outfit to that one — digs full-force into a sweetened 1960s psychedelia specifically drawing from the middle period of The Beatles.

Oh, make no mistake. Of course there are other influences at work across Silver Sunshine. But in terms of a defining presence, the trailblazing, generation-defining psychedelic pop rock of Lennon/McCartney — and maybe some Harrison on “If I Had the Time” — is unquestionable, from the winding lead figure in “I See the Silver Sunshine” through the piano bounce of “When She Wakes Tomorrow” and circa-’64 vibe of “Miranda May” and “Greenfield Park.” From the very launch of the album — quiet literally the first 10-12 seconds of opener “Velvet Skies,” they dogwhistle the presence of Revolver in their hearts, with a fade-in and drum progression that can’t help but call to mind the classic beginning of “Tomorrow Never Knows.”

And that is not at all the end of that tale either. The “ooh-la-la-las” in and samples at the end of “Trinkets,” or the urgent jangle in “Girl” (also the fact that it’s called “Girl”) and the Rubber Soul-esque acoustic and electric blend on “Way Up in the Big Sky,” the organ-laced storytelling of the penultimate “Miranda May,” and so on. silver sunshine silver sunshineTiny references permeate, like sweet reminders of old friends in the songs, often beautifully reinterpreted or put to their own, redirected use. That is to say, while much of what might draw from The Beatles on such a level — and understand, The Beatles are the greatest pop rock songwriters of all time, arguably the best band ever to do the thing and if you don’t think so, I can only advise you to open your heart and your mind and let love in; they are not an influence I’d begrudge anybody as that music has made my own life a more livable experience — might have the simple effect of making one want to hear The Beatles themselves, Silver Sunshine do not.

Why? Because, in neither its production — the band and engineer Mike Kamoo are both listed as producers — nor in the makeup of the sounds are Silver Sunshine trying to actually be The Beatles. They’ve made them a framework around which their own songs are built. With their own vocal harmonies and arrangements, a looser direction to let the songs breathe a bit — which Beatles songs wouldn’t really do until 1967 at the earliest; go back and listen to Revolver again to find the wasted seconds; they are few in number — and especially in the use of various synthesizers and vintage keys that wouldn’t come to prominence until after the Liverpudlians ended their run, Silver Sunshine dig out their own niche in the style. Even the gentle, acoustic-led highlight “Nightmares” puts these to gorgeous use in setting a fuller backdrop for the dreamy vocal melody to take place. And the British Invasion-style shove of “Greenfield Park” is beamed in from a different place as much as time, from farther-out than bands in a commercial setting were allowed to be at that point.

Maybe that’s inspiration from a 1990s psychedelic revival, or maybe it comes from the progressive movement of the early ’70s in which the Beatles didn’t and maybe knew they couldn’t take part, bands like King Crimson and Jethro Tull, whose respective influences certainly had more of a say on Astra. I don’t know. You’d have to ask, and as it’s been 18 years since Silver Sunshine‘s Silver Sunshine came out, I’m not sure I’m willing to speculate. The fuller-borne weirdness of closer “Merry Go Round,” though, finds its way into a consuming swirl, spanning channels back and forth, melting down wah around a central lead guitar figure as if to bid farewell from this other universe until, in an only-appropriate bit of unabashed fun, the whole thing explodes, and I can’t think of a better ending. It’ll make sense when/if you listen.

Bringing Lennon/McCartney through the filter of Riley/Vaughan is a simple way of looking at Silver Sunshine, but as we’re in a time where so much of what’s considered “authentic” has to be dark, or morose in order to feel real, to have something so willfully bright coming from what was also a plenty tumultuous time is refreshing. Silver Sunshine had an EP out in 2005 called A Small Pocket of Pure Spirit that I may chase down, but for now, to have this self-titled both to provide a richer understanding of Astra and Birth and just for the merit of its own craft feels like a gift. I can’t imagine I’d be the first to say it, but anyhow: good day, Silver Sunshine.

Thanks as always for reading. I hope you enjoy.

5:41AM and the kid was up, bumbling around upstairs in the guest room. He came down soon after, which he does now rather than needing to get got, and was off to the races almost immediately thereafter. Last day of school was yesterday, first day of camp is Monday. I guess that makes this summer vacation. If that makes me one of those hyper-scheduling parents that kneejerk reactionary dipshits like to call out, so be it. You live with my son for two fucking hours and tell me if he doesn’t need shit to do the way most people need oxygen and water to live.

I’m still somewhat reeling from Freak Valley Festival last weekend, emotionally and in terms of basic fatigue. This weekend is Maryland Doom Fest, and there’s a big part of me that would love nothing better than to be there, see old friends and good bands and so on, but I’m not really ready to invite that kind of resentment into my life. Leaving here for a few days for the first time in so long was an eye-opener. The strain on my wife and son both was unfair, and while they handled it and could handle it again I’m sure, coming back into that situation afterward would be difficult on everyone. By the time I got home this week, it was tense. My own state of mind at that point did nothing to help.

Most relevant at least to me, this has me rethinking the tour I was planning on doing in the Fall. It would be a once-in-a-lifetime thing to give up — a chance to tour Europe and write a book derived from the experience is as close to a lifelong ambition as I’ve ever had — but at this point in my life I’m not sure it’s feasible. It makes me sad to lose that, but my concerns are secondary, at best.

I’ll lose that, potentially gain back Høstsabbat if they’ll have me, and hopefully do Psycho in August and Roadburn next year. In December I’ll travel to Richmond for that Alabama Thunderpussy show. And that will have to do, plus the odd club gig that I’m not too tired to hit if gas doesn’t cost too much. Those, I suspect, will be few and far between.

Today is a new Gimme Metal show. 5PM Eastern. It’s for Maryland Doom Fest. Thanks if you listen.

American slide into fascism, Roe overturned like today, war in Europe, plague trauma, economic disparity. At least music is good. Hold onto that, folks.

Thanks for reading. Great and safe weekend. Hug your friends. Hydrate.

FRM.

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