Sunset Sons “Very Rarely Say Die”

We first came across Sunset Sons at Glastonbury last year. We were totally blown away by a really great performance, by a surprisingly tight band. It was one of those great Glastonbury moments when you pop into a small stage and see something unexpectedly good. We have therefore been keenly awaiting this album.

Opener, “Know My Name”, quickly shows their intentions are to be playing much bigger stages in the future.  It’s one of a number of songs, including “The Jam (Interlude)” and “Somewhere Maybe”, which are big, anthemic pop/rock numbers. The vocals in particular recall The Kings Of Leon. However, in truth, they have a bit more of a ‘polished’ sound, as shown by “Bring The Bright Light”.

They are also able to add a bit of surf rock to the mix on “Tick Tock”. It’s a great song which sounds like Maroon 5’s younger, cooler, brothers. That’s a theme continued by “Remember” which, like many of the songs on this album, has the potential to be a commercial radio hit. Songs like “She Wants” have a mainstream appeal.

There’s certainly a ‘summertime’ feel to the album. This ranges from the early, sunny morning, approach of “Loa” to the beer and BBQ “On The Road”, with its Killers esque sound. Indeed, by the time you get to “Lost Company”, our favourite song on the album, you realise that the strong melodies are as much delivered by the keys as the guitars.

The main ‘problem’ that Sunset Sons may face is that they sound ‘too good’. They’re a polished, indie pop band that recall mainstream acts like Maroon 5 and Train. In fact, they also see our mind wandering towards The Feeling. The sound is totally different, but there is that sense of a band who seem just ‘too’ professional and adept on this first album. That doesn’t mean you should adopt a snooty music journalist approach. If you like well-crafted songs performed by a band that have clearly honed their sound with hard work and, we presume, hard gigging, there is a lot to like here. Then if these songs do end up being played in the stadiums they appear designed for, you can say that you were there from the beginning.