'Sunshine Pops!' is the latest CD from The Superimposers, a London based trio who have on this occasion produced a rather good album of 60’s tinged pop music, featuring a variety of instruments such as harpsichord, glockenspiel and marimba, which leaves the listener with a faint feeling of déjà vu, as if one has heard these melodies somewhere on some long forgotten arty European film circa 1968. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as whilst there are no tracks that (for me) screamed top ten single, the overall quality is maintained throughout.
Opener, ‘Where Do You Go?’ is bright and upbeat with a piano based melody that seems somewhat reminiscent of The Style Council, with some easy laid back lyrics: - “You took your time…to shine!” and “Where do you go when the sun comes down.”
‘Little Miss Valentine is slower and uses a harpsichord and is laden with echoey backing vocals.‘Seeing is Believing’ is a track with a melody that sounds just like a film score, but is let down slightly by the lyrics: -“Falling, falling, lying, trying. Cos seeing is believing, you gotta believe what you’re feeling.”
‘The Beach’ is similar in content, being a lush soundscape that lingers in the ears long after the song has faded. ‘The Harbour Mystery’, however is pure cheese, with seagull noises opening and closing this number!
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‘Tumbledown’ is the high watermark of the album, with a circular synth melody, and some cool, doom laden lyrics: - “All around will tumbledown, fall into the sea/ Lay me down beneath the ground, free from destiny”.
‘Four Leaf Clover’ is vaguely Lennonesque, circa the Double Fantasy album, but once again, the lyrics tend to be lacking in substance: “Four leaf clover, cover me over, now is the time to be found” however, the guitar/glockenspiel melody carries this one through.
The last two tracks, ‘Sometimes’ and Would it be Impossible?’ arte pretty much more of the same with nice interesting melodies that have been nailed to a set of lyrics that don’t seem to have been fully thought through: -“Leaves fall on the ground, treetops move around.”
Overall, I liked this album more than I disliked it, the melodies are good, but if the lyrics had been better, then this could have been a great album.
Wonderfulsound Records online
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