Sweet Sweet Music is blown away by Sunshine Bloom’s Power Pop is Dead ep. Do we hear Boston covering The Knack? We talked to this young band from Birmingham (UK) to find out what is happening.

 

 

Listening to The Spark and I am wondering if I hear Boston covering The Knack. Will you take that as compliment?

We certainly will. For that song we wanted something edgier and a bit more angular like The Knack but with the same strong pop melodies that you would find in say a Boston song. We love both bands and used to cover The Knack occasionally in our live shows. This song works really well as a set opener and gets people up and dancing from the get go!

Or ELO covering an old Nick Lowe song. Or … is that what you with Progressive Power Pop?

I love that idea!!! Two great bands and massive influences on us. Rob (our guitarist) in particular is a big Nick Lowe fan. He’ll be pleased to hear that. I think it’s great that you can hear the eclectic mix of genres in our music. This was always our aim…we never set out to be a particular type of band, we just want to write good melodic music that we would like to hear. The progressive element is key too, we like to push a few boundaries!

The quality of the song, the quality of the sound. For me, it is hard to image this isn’t produced by a band that has been around for ages and/or has been in touch with world fame … where does this all come from?

We have played a lot of gigs which I think is key. You hone your craft at live shows and learn what works well and what works less well. The audience let you know there and then which songs work and which don’t. Being in touch with your fans is really important, they have to come along for the ride! Some of the songs on this EP have been a long time in the making, we wanted to ensure that we were super proud of what we released which we are. We took our time. Given also that we did the whole thing ourselves and didn’t spend any money on creating this EP, it’s great to hear that you think it sounds so professional. It has been a labour of love.

She tells you she will decide on a 5-song-mix tape if there is going to be a second date. Which 5 would you put on?

OK, so we have put this to a band vote, each member can pick one song and we can have 1 whole band choice.

We decided on the following:

1. New Mistake by Jellyfish (James – Vocals / Bass)
2. She’s Gone by Hall and Oates (Shaun – Keys / Guitars / Vocals)
3. My song is Take Me Down To The Hospital by The Replacements (Rob – Guitars / Vocals)
4. Gone is Gone by Gift (Jack – Drums)
5. Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey by Wings (Everyone)

How will you promote Power Pop is Dead?

We launched the EP at the end of last year to a packed out show in Birmingham (UK) which was a huge success. We are now busy pulling together dates around the UK for the first half of this year including a slot at the prestigious IPO Liverpool at The Cavern Club. Hopefully this means that as many people as possible get to hear our music. The EP will be for sale at the shows and can be downloaded / streamed now from all the usual places. We are also working hard to get exposure in blogs like this where we can get our music out there to an audience who share the same passion we have for great Power Pop.

Is it ‘dead’ like Rock and Punk and Blues ?

Ha! I think the name of the EP was meant to be tongue in cheek, releasing the most Power Pop style EP under a title saying that Power Pop is Dead. For me it’s less of a question around a genre being dead as asking was it ever really alive. Things ebb and flow, one thing morphs into another and that’s gotta be a good thing right?

 

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