Sun In My Pocket - Sonic Flyer EP Review
Photo:Kate Kuzminova
EP Review
Sonicflyer are the kind of musical discovery I am proud to have made. Of course, the pride is dented by the fact the promo was mailed to me, but the four aching indie guitar-pop melodies that make up the Sun in my Pocket EP are delightful handfuls of yearning and optimism - the perfect soundtrack for summer, peculiarly sent to me in the dead of Winter, and released in January.
The opening track - Sun in my Pocket has the sweet vocal naivety of Scandinavian indie acts like Mew and The Perishers, combined with the guitar lines and eager drumming of late 90s Britpop. The result? A memorable, sweet opening tinted in optimism and the joy of summer.
The second track on the EP is the less originally named Tonight. Despite this inauspicious first impression, the song actually picks up to be being the star of the EP. The guitars take more of a backseat in the mix, allowing the delightful vocals to steer the music. The mix maintains the same lyrical and vocal charms as the opener, but allows them greater influence, even dropping the guitar completely in the bridge before the chorus.
Hundred Reasons, the third track, has considerably less energy than the first two, and loses a lot as a result. It's considerably more forgettable, but still pleasant enough - like a goldfish receiving a massage. The final track, a home demo called Overseas is completely different - all distortion and noise, the guitars are more brit-rocky than brit-poppy, and the vocals are once again marginalised. At 8 minutes long, it does outstay its welcome a little, but in terms of bubbling potential, it shows you that Sonicflyer could be something more than the yearning-pop-one-trick-ponies the first three tracks imply.If there's one problem with the EP, it's that you may find the whole thing a bit samey, which limits its maximum score, but as a 4 track EP, it's hard to hold that against it. Taken as a piece of music in its own right, it's enjoyable and has the kind of melodies that will stick in your head without making your mixtapes and end of year lists. Taken as a musical territory marking, it's a powerful sign of things to come from Sonicflyer, and they should be watched carefully over the coming years.
