There's an explosive quality to the songs of Scottish alternative shoegaze group Sunstinger. Their recent EP, Worthless, opens with its oceanic title track, which builds in intensity through stucco-textured synths, escapist basslines, and a thumping drum march. Frontman Taylor Wright has an exotic voice, as though it's coming from a Caribbean night, slightly tipsy on the beach, and enamoured by the stars. Co-writing credits for this EP are given to recently added member David McCulloch, who Wright says has given the release a heavier sound to Sunstinger's previous material; a discography that goes back to 2018's single "Even When". Bassist Bill Anderson, guitarist Scott Gourlay, and drummer Nick Hernandez complete this post-punk meets Britpop group.
Overall, the EP is an optimistic affair. Sunstinger is concerned with making you feel buoyant. There are elements of dissent, like when Wright sings "Forget your friends, I hate them all" in "Sink", but these moments invariably turn to romantic bursts of hopeful pop rock. As the press release goes, "These are songs sure to appeal both to Saturday night revellers and outsiders listening on headphones in dimly lit bedrooms." There's an everyman appeal to the band, not a million miles away from what would happen if Oasis jammed with My Bloody Valentine. Short riffs unfettered by anything other than rocking out, flowery guitar textures evidencing nerd-out sessions, and attachable melodies frame relatable tunes.
If there's anything gnawing about this release it's that it's too epic. It never considers landing for a second, whirling by in a haze of zealous art pop melodies. This enthusiasm turns an otherwise wonderful song like "Aro", an ebullient and bouncy piece of unpretentious songwriting ("If tomorrow ever comes I might need you") and summer-scented riffs into bloated and fanciful production-first trickery with a questionable and hard-to-decipher spoken word sample thrown in for some extra spice. Not that this approach never pays off. "Death Is" is a brazen and heavenly feat, the lyrics obscured by reverb, but somehow the sentiment comes through. The collection ends with the sprawling, seven-plus-minute "Endless June", which sees traditional song structures collide with progressive spaces of Odyssean profundity in an oddly accessible fashion.
Worthless by Sunstinger is an impressively expansive EP. The group stretch their crystallized songs along curves of artfully produced rock to achieve what can earnestly be described as stunning. If the songs are sometimes stretched too thin, they are also indelibly wistful and diaphanously galvanizing.
★★★★½