A Sunny Day in Glasgow - "Tout New Age" EP

A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Hugs & Kisses (Theme From A Sunny Day in Glasgow) (Notenuf 2007)

A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Tout New Age EP / Notenuf

Right from the first time I heard them in January, I liked A Sunny Day in Glasgow. For devoted (and discerning) followers of shoegaze and dream-pop like myself, the Philadelphia-cum-Montreal-based group has become irresistible. Scribble Mural Comic Journal, aside from being an extraordinary combination of seemingly random words, is one of my favorites from this year. Arriving not quite fully formed (and by that I mean not quite perfect production-wise), A Sunny Day in Glasgow joined Cyann & Ben as my early-'07 daydream soundtracks.

So when I read about this tour-only EP Tout New Age, I was excited to see that this handmade limited edition release was making its way out there to those of us unlucky enough to miss them. When their tour ended July 6th, the set-up was there: Tout New Age would be released digitally. Basically, that equals one big hell-yeah from this guy. Hopefully you'll feel the same when you hear it in full for yourself.

The applause that raises the curtains for "They Made My Baby Care About Things That Didn't Matter" leads into a meandering REM sleep of a song that never quite breaks into My Bloody Valentine walls o' sound but doesn't really reach the jangly perfection of The Cocteau Twins either. That's reserved for the next track, "Laughter (Victims)," which sounds like it literally came straight out of 1988 but actually came off of their mid-'06 EP The Sunniest Day Ever. Rarely have I heard a song that so perfectly captures the mood and spirit of the late-80s UK scene as with this track. Part of the reason it sounds as time-specific as it does is because of a kind of lo-fi quality that surrounds this EP. Indeed, homespun is the proper word for the production, even more so than on their full-length debut earlier this year. The Daniels sisters know how to sing to God alright, but brother Ben does himself no disservice by providing just the right music to accompany the sirens of such a fresh, young band. Filled with promise and not a little electronic trickery, "The Ossifrage (Tout New Age)" is another excellent example of the heavens this band is reaching toward.

Interestingly, the band's own theme song includes their mother on piano... But it got cut from the final Scribble Mural Comic Journal tracklisting. Unfortunate though it may be, its thankful appearance here brings fine closure to the band's first scribblings. Or maybe it's the first journal they've finished writing. Either way, these tracks are all quality and though their exclusion from the real deal is sometimes understandable (Drums are barely evidenced throughout this release, going to serve that somnolence even more so than usual), it's well worth your while to check out the fuzzy feedback and kraut-like dream-pop these kids are putting out.

...Blah blah blah blah blah. How many times have you heard raving about a shoegaze album before and been disappointed? While all of these kind words are nice and all, sometimes brevity as the soul of wit is the better part of intelligence; on that note, let me leave you with the band's own thoughts on Tout New Age. I could not have (and did not) put it more succinctly myself.