The brainchild of two brothers (Rob & Will), Seattle, Washington’s Sunnyland blends clean, crisp guitar lines with formidable sonic structures.
Citing Death Cab For Cutie and Bon Iver as influences, there’s also something undeniably grungey about Sunnyland. There are elements of Bush and Pearl Jam here as well as definite touches of Chris Walla, Ben Gibbard and S. Carey.
This is evidenced most notably on the opening track Everyone Except For Me. It’s the vocal that most makes us feel this way – we’re also reminded a bit of Layne Staley and Aaron Lewis. Musically, there’s a smidge of early Rilo Kiley – it’s easy to enjoy indie with an alt-folk twist and sombre undertones.
The second song – What Was In The Water – continues in this vein. It’s even more morose and lyrically touches on suicidal ideation while the music glides, glimmers and glistens – much like the combination of Morrissey and Marr back in the day, the juxtaposition works very well.
Try is our personal favourite of the bunch here. It’s extremely reflective and absolutely relishes in its own introspection. It’s evocative and delicate but also meaty and confident. It almost feels unsure and self-assured at the same time. Peppered with excellent lyrical phrases (“I wanted to be a lot of things / but I turned out to be jealous / I wonder what people think of me?” and “I wanted to be intelligent / but I just feel like an idiot” particularly stand out) it is the standout moment of the EP.
Eighty Sixed – the final track – concludes the EP on a high. Again, there’s a focus on introspective musings and a palpable uncertainty and insecurity (the line “everyone wants to help me but I won’t let them” cuts particularly deep). This is an expertly realised song and is almost reminiscent of Elliott Smith, who was of course a master of this.
Written by Kinda Grizzly
