On one hand, A Sunny Day In Glasgow sounds like an elemental mash-up of Cocteau Twins, Sparks, the New Pornographers, Todd Rundgren as Wizard/True Star, an ambient/poppy Brian Eno and Danny Elfman in full-metal Tim Burton mode. On the other hand, no one asked for this in their Christmas stocking. On a third hand provided by a friend or a Marvel mutant, someone should have, because it’s confounding and bloody wonderful.
Planning Weed Like It’s Acid/Life Is Loss, the outfit’s first new material since 2012’s Sea When Absent, is actually a double EP—five on the former, four on the latter—but sounds naturally of a piece, careening from sugary melodicism to chaotic dissonance to eight-bit synth-pop charm to proggy orchestral majesty, sometimes in the space of a few bars in a single song. In an alternate just universe, “Hey, You’re Mine” (sounding like Jane Siberry conducted by the Mael brothers) would be a massive hit, and it should be in ours as well. First listen, fall in like. Second listen, fall in love. Third listen, drop the tab and take the trip, man.
—Brian Baker
