An Appropriately Named Album
Sunny Day Sets Fire's debut album ties up loose ends?
Sunny Day Sets Fire
Summer Palace
Released on Jul 08, 2008
Ah yes, the sweet sounds of summer. Who hasn't wished that their summer had a soundtrack? Well you needn't wait much longer; international psych-pop phenomena Sunny Day Sets Fire have done just that for you. Comprised of members from four different continents, it's only expected that they bring some eclectic fun into the equation. Sadly no one wants a boring summer, and while making this collection of music the band must have missed the memo. It seems they were ill informed that making all your songs sound the same, and keeping diversity at an all time low doesn't make for a very interesting album.
However, being the forgiving, and occasionally understanding person that I am, I'm gonna stick with it. One problem is it takes some effort just to sit and listen to the album all the way through. It isn't that the music is bad, but more peculiarly that I just get bored. In fact, ever time I attempt to listen to Summer Palace I find that I do enjoy the music, but that feeling only lasts for about five minutes before I begin to wonder if the album is almost over, only to see I'm only two tracks in.
Summer Palace begins with a fanciful little number called "Wilderness". Starting with bells and guitar, this track drifts into a verse filled with whimsical vocals by the band's Italian vocalist Mauro. This song keeps things peppy and on the lighter side which I can appreciate, mainly because these guys can do peppy and light music. But don't ask anything else out of them.
The album continues for a few tracks, which I can scarcely pick apart from each other before arriving at a song I can actually find some pleasure listening to. "Siamese" is a very slow, somber track, which differentiates itself from most of the others on the album by its soothing vocals by Hong Kong native Onyee.
"I Dream Along" stands out in a few ways, perhaps as a good song, but more likely because the bands formulaic attempts at the same kind of song actually pay off in this one. This is the only song on the album I could ever see myself singing along to, but as someone notorious for having songs stuck in their head, this isn't saying a whole lot. At least this song has a hook and is a little catchy.
The track "All Our Songs" is a nice change of pace. While still a little too similar to the rest of the album it does have some appreciable features. I like that the band has actually used the guitar as a focal point in this song, it's a nice riff and they do it justice by centering the song around it. There is also an abundance of nice vocal work in this track. However, choosing a name that calls attention to the rest of your songs, particularly the weaker ones, not the best choice in my opinion.
They really dropped the ball with the album's last track, " Adrenaline". While I can only guess their goal was a fun, poppy conclusion, this falls short. It ends with an annoying half dance, half pop song that sounds comparable to an Aqua B-side song.
With all of the hype in apprehension for this album I was sad to discover it was such a dud. This album contains many of the ingredients I feel necessary to create a good album, unfortunately they couldn't seem to straighten things out enough for my taste.
High Point
This album had a lot of potential, songs like "I Dream Along" and "Siamese" give me high hopes for next time.
Low Point
"Adrenaline" was just unforgivable, especially after getting my hopes up with "All Our Songs."
Posted by Andrew Scott on Jul 01, 2008 @ 7:56 am