Sunlight Service Group has a listing in genre of ‘heavy petal.’ After failing miserably to come up with some quip about Summer, sunlight, sonics and an even more flagrant abuse of alliteration to open the flood gates for gushing over SSG’s outstanding Los Tres Bandidos, that seemingly tossed off pun somehow encapsulates accordingly. It’s charming, disarming, enigmatic and not without a small trace of dead serious humor and wit that can be as razor sharp as it is oddball to the ‘non-Gypsys’ out there. Los Tres Bandidos is not only a stellar follow-up to Bowling With The Bloodied Head Of Barbara Streisand, but it also finds SSG seemingly doing more with less. If you’ve been bowling (and you really should), then you know SSG have an uncanny knack for lining up the pins their own way. And then knocking them down without fail…their own way. Folk, rock and pop (you can put a ‘psych’ before those if you want, but there’s far more going on here than just that) all get the twist on Los Tres Bandidos until their wrung into shapes that are still familiar when they stick out their hands, but have a new touch … possibly from a new finger or two. Which is surprising in one way since SSG is now leaner and more economical. Los Tres Bandidos takes the root spine that ran through Bowling and either lets it blossom, or turns it inside out. Your pick, and both would be right. The acoustic nervous system of SSG is taken out and put on top of the skin this time around … and from the results, that’s where it belongs (at least this time … more on that later…) idididididididid swings the cantina doors wide open just long enough for you to look around and get your bearings before the party turns itself inside out. There’s more than a little sweat and sawdust inside amongst the spaceships, felines and frogspawn and plenty of room for you to stand, squat or elevate as you see fit. Take a look around at your guests; there are hints of the exotic over there (Ariel Tweeto), psych pop that is as hooky and sweet as it is wobbly (Genetic Throwback), and a thought pattern and intent that borders on the proggy, even if SSG enter the goat-hair tent (the appropriately title Wormhole) from a frayed hole in the back canvas that deliciously unravels. Take a big swig and don’t give the fly in your lava lamp another thought as it goes down your wormhole to roost in your ear. If ‘heavy petal’ is too vague and enigmatic (and therefore dead on) then let SSG say it themselves, as they do best: “I’ve got something growing through me … let’s turn it into something groovy …”
Please do. There certainly isn’t enough of that, and this, going around. Pull the tattered blinds and let the sunlight in … illuminate the corners and crevices and breathe in one of the freshest breaths of air this year, resplendent in dust mites, vapor trails and sealed with a Gypsy’s kiss. Sort of … (Sunrise Ocean Bender)
credits
released May 13, 2013
Wild Willy Robinson - vocals, guitar slinger and other bits n bobs
Pete Jordan - bass, backing vocals, some keyboards
James Moriaty - drum beater
supported by 10 fans who also own “Sunlight Serice Group - Los Tres Bandidos (2013)”
Oh bliss and Heaven. It's probably a cliché to say that a perfectly suspended piece of art seems to have been created between the end and beginning of time. But it's also a cliché to say the same thing about a perfect summer's day too, I imagine. Lie back, close your eyes, and create a holiday memory. No sun lotion or bug repellent required. rexx38
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