GENRE | Indie Pop for the Soul

LABEL | Self-released

RELEASE DATE | January 25, 2017

VERDICT | Summer came early

There are days in your youth spent by yourself when nothing to do becomes something to do. These are your are desert days. Then there are days with good company, a few laughs, and a moment of silence when you think “If the world ended this minute, at least I have the day to die with.” These are your starry nights.

Ginger Sunburn’s “Frivolous Activities” is the sunset of a desert day into a starry night. The nostalgic surf tune warns against bad habits of teen years. “Kill yourself slowly, enjoy the sights and sound,”utters James Burke. “You’ve got a future boy stop turning things around now.”

The song starts with bright chords paired with tell-tale lyrics about the pleasure of empty feel good things. In that, Ginger Sunburn straddles the fence between the beautiful and the devastating. The band continues to kiss the happy tune with a melancholic verse, a style like that of The Smiths in “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” and “What Difference Does it Make?” with a hint of British charm akin to King Krule. The alternative rock sound includes a rap-like verses that quickens the pace of the song, mirroring the rush and recklessness of youth.

Even for all its despair, “Frivolous Activities” plays nicely in the background during studies or a long smooth car ride, which makes it worth grabbing. Check it out alongside the rest of Ginger Sunburn’s new LP, Sleepwalk.