The Novice Writers

The self-titled debut album by Chicago-based Indie band The Sundayrunners cannot have any sort of blanket statement attached to it, as illustrated by the first two tracks. After the unimpressive opener “Elected” where the instrumentals are monotonous and the tight vocal harmonies are cacophonous, the soon-to-be hit track “Memories Left at Sea” more than makes up for the ugly vocals of track one. It is a great example of the “right” song; all of the beats, sound effects, vocal range and style, etc. are the best they could be. No wonder the popular FOX TV show The O.C. chose to air this song.This erratic styling continues with the rest of the album. “Everlasting Sun” has a poppy rock ambient soundtrack feel, whereas “Finally” is dull and once again incorporates those dissonant tight vocal harmonies. “1993” has a Jack Johnson-ish singer/songwriter feel with depth in its lyrics and texture, whereas “Flying Saucers” is fraught with trite lines such as “If your jump shots fail to find the hoop/When everything’s crashin’ in front of you”. However, more tracks are good than bad. For instance, “Lip Biter” has a punk-y Pixies-ish opening guitar and “Evolver” has a sexy, heavy bass.

The differences between quality of songwriting and styles show that The Sundayrunners are still novices. They are bouncing all over the place and do not have a solid sense of self. However, more songs are well written and performed than ones that are poorly executed, showing that this band has quite a bit of potential and is one to keep an eye on. The Sundayrunners should come into their own in fantastic form on future albums.