Artist: A Sunny Day in Glasgow
Title: Ashes Grammar
Label: Mis Ojos Discos
Genre: Pop : Rock
Release Date: 09.15.09
UPC: 616892049968
Territory: World
Successful evolution into a new sound is a difficult obstacle in the way of most bands who achieve a critically loved debut album; the temptation to recreate the praised ingredients from their first work and deliver more of the same is promising and strong. This is a mark that thins the herd over time as more genuinely talented and dedicated individuals manage to maintain the loyalty of a fan base while meeting the challenge of creating new, original material make themselves known. Philadelphia’s A Sunny Day In Glasgow are one such group; with the release of their new second LP, Ashes Grammar, the ambient pop outfit will dazzle with new material and exploration into uncharted musical grounds while continuing to provide their fans with the dreamy, ethereal comfort their highly loved previous material was heralded for.
Their previous album, Scribble Mural Comic Journal, was a showcase of textures and soundscapes characterized by walls of fuzz, overdubbed and heavily effected guitar lines, and vocals with grand canyon sized reverb. The result was a shoegaze journey through everything from psychedelic wonder to even tender moments (the song “5:15 Train” could have easily lent itself to the ambient romanticism of the Lost in Translation soundtrack alongside My Bloody Valentine’s mastermind Kevin Shields and French dream-pop’ers Air). The album received rave reviews from all sorts of different outlets, notably an 8 out of 10 from the notoriously difficult-to-win-over Pitchfork.com. Drowned in Sound gave it a “9/10″ and called it a “contender for album of the year.” The band had won over the critics and gained a sizeable fan base, but they soon approached the ever dreaded sophomore follow up.
Thankfully Ashes Grammar does not disappoint in the slightest. Sunny Day in Glasgow’s second album presents a band more confident with what they do best: create beautiful, happy dreams via layers and layers of noise mixed with endearing, subtly positioned melodies. The band is taking a positive step not only in their personal sound with the new record, but also for the genre of shoegaze in general. Let’s face it, the genre defines itself by these heavily emotionally stimulating epic sound paintings, and thus tends to focus more on moody loneliness, intense feelings of desire, sleepiness/laziness, and a general downtempo pace. Glasgow’s new album instead focuses more precisely on the joyful and upbeat, applying the genre to new territory. While artists like Iceland’s Sigur Ros have been praised for creating mostly beautiful and uplifting ambient music, Glasgow takes the positive vibes one step further by making it danceable. Yes, they have in fact successfully merged ambient-based shoegaze and danceable pop without creating a mess of it all! The change is most notably observed in the dancey up-tempo drum beats that characterize the album. When you think about it, the transition really does seem natural: A Sunny Day in Glasgow had lots of echoing female vocals that loop and dance on top of catchy melodies from a variety of sources, two of the three ingredients to a great dance track. Now adding in the third with the drum tracks, the band has made successful changes while simultaneously focusing in on what makes them stand out. It plays just like the result would seeming sound: danceable shoegaze. An original and wonderful composition, this record is sure to match their debuts success. I’ll put money down their live show will be great on upcoming tours as well!
