Sgt. Sunshine

III

Written by: BV on 10/04/2013 17:31:11

”III” is, as one could imagine, the third album from Sweden based stoner-rocker Eduardo Fernandez and his band Sgt. Sunshine. On “III” Sgt. Sunshine takes on yet another form that differs vastly from the previous effort “Black Hole”. Most fans of Sgt. Sunshine would probably agree when I say that this is a splendid idea, as “Black Hole” really wasn’t that interesting a listen, nor was it even mildly as musically interesting as the self-titled debut. In other words, Sgt. Sunshine’s return to form on “III” is something that most fans have been looking forward to for quite some time. Here’s why:

Opening the album is the powerful and fuzzy track “Zoetrope”. The song opens with a drum pattern that leads straight into an archetypically stoner-rock sounding track, with all the fuzzy guitar riffing and booming bass-lines one could possibly desire. Fernandez’ vocal work on this track is also quite exciting in the sense that he doesn’t seem to overdo it. The vocals blend perfectly with the music, creating a coherent soundscape, rather than one where the music is a mere vessel for the vocals to be placed upon.

The third track of the album, “Golden Dawn”, is one of the heavier songs on the album, whilst boasting an impressive guitar solo as well. The bombastic bassline and the main guitar riff provides the track with a certain edge and makes it quite memorable, despite my initial fears that this would be one of those anonymous tracks where you remember there was a kinda cool riff, but you can’t really remember it, so maybe it wasn’t really that good anyway.

“Marrow Soup” is perhaps one of the more laid-back tracks of the album, and most of all it sounds quite similar to something the German stoners of Colour Haze could have made – but that’s fine by me, since I can’t really get enough of Colour Haze to begin with. The sparse vocals, the slow drive of the song and the almost ‘lazy’ attitude towards the soloing continues to hint towards the previously mentioned German influence, but it never really strays from sounding like Sgt. Sunshine – which is quite impressive after all, as it’s hard to really stand out amongst the vast amount of stoner-bands currently rocking the scenes out there.

The sixth track of the album, “Beneath the Song” is perhaps the strongest, yet most laid-back moment of the entire album. With its captivating and swirly main riff, and almost funky-sounding rhythm section, the track truly stands out amongst the monolithic riffs of the album and provides a warmly welcomed variation. The mellow psych-vibe of the track is further explored throughout the droning vocals of front-man Fernandez. The mellow sounds don’t last long though, as the track evolves into a powerhouse of spectacular riffing, haunting lead fills and crushing bass and drum sounds, showing off exactly where Sgt. Sunshine have their strong suits.

In other words, this is a riff-based album that occasionally has its mellow moments. Any fan of the slightly heavy stoner rock, and the power-trio format in general will inevitably enjoy this release – not quite as much as me perhaps, but to some extent though. I would highly recommend this album to any stoner-fan out there, looking for some new tasty riffs to groove out to.

Download: Golden Dawn, Marrow Soup, Beneath the Song, Solar Butterfly
For The Fans Of: Colour Haze, Buffalo Killers, Sungrazer
Listen: facebook.com

Release Date 27.02.2013
Elektrohasch

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