Sunday, August 17, 2008

The Sunshine Fix

Perhaps you recall the from the Greek legends the tale of the Lernaean Hydra. A beast that Heracles slew that had the neat trick of sprouting two head to replace any one the hero was able to chop off. Elephant 6 is a musical equivalent to the mythic hydra. Once upon a time a label of three acts, Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Olivia Tremor Control, the collective has since give away to an abundance of acts following its demise as an official label. The Sunshine Fix is one of those many new head to come into the spotlight after the disbanding of Olivia Tremor Control in 2000, which in reality was born from the remains of the earlier Synthetic Flying Machine. While Bill Doss had used the name The Sunshine Fix before OTC, the band didn't form as a working entity until afterward. As Elephant 6 is famous for the band makes quirky indie pop with psychedelic attributes. The first was 1993's originally self-released cassette A Spiraling World of Pop, later re-released on Elephant 6, done in an extremely lo-fi fashion with some lovely harmonic vocals that would remain throughout the later albums. In 2000 an EP with what might be my favorite Sunshine Fix songs was issued entitled The Future History of a Sunshine Fix. The long-titled and twangy "Last Night I Had a Dream (Said I Had a Dream Last Night)" is utterly astounding in my opinion, with the trippy "Beaconary Words ..." being noting to scoff at either. A year later a more polish and skillfully composed song can be found on the first true album, Age of the Sun. Most recently there was Green Imagination that doesn't stray too far from the formula the band has previously followed. Nevertheless it possesses a freshness thanks to Doss's talent in varying a common theme. Rumor has it that there's another album in the works, and according to Doss it'll have a change in mood towards the darker, or as he put it "more Leonard Cohen than John Lennon."

To be had here:



A Spiraling World of Pop (1993) [224 kbps]
complete with .png files of the booklet that was released with it






The Future History of A Sunshine Fix (2000) [192 kbps]










Age of the Sun (2001) [192 kbps]









Green Imagination (2004) [224 VBR kbps]

2 comments:

  1. I've always wanted to hear more from these guys, and I love what little I've heard... until now. Thanks !!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Any chance of a re-up on Age of the Sun?

    ReplyDelete