Black Sunshine – Self-Titled

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve listened to the radio and not been able to distinguish between Nickelback and Theory Of A Dead Man.  That deep, baritone voice hitting notes with a dirty howl, and those blunt crunching power chords dominating every musical crevice.  When you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a million times – 90’s radio rock at it’s most true and predictable.  It’s no secret I’ve never been a huge fan, although I should point out that I spent the better part of my early high school years tuning in to the modern rock airwaves before stumbling upon more genuine offerings.

Naturally, when I popped in Californian four-piece Black Sunshine’s self-titled full length, I let out an exhaustive sigh.  Sure enough, the accompanying arrangements were like a page from my youth, tossing me back to the days of “How You Remind Me” being looped endlessly on every local station.  Even the band photos point to front man Matt Reardon wanting nothing more than to be Chad Kroeger.  Check out a tune like “Once In My life” and you’ll swear you were listening to Nickelback’s next single.  The momentary pauses, slamming chord emphasis, and mellow chorus fade-outs – it’s as if they’re painting by numbers.  As a rule, if you’re going to imitate a band, make it a something exciting.  I mean, who wants to listen to a knock off of a band that hasn’t known innovation in over a decade?

And the deeper you look, the more frustrating each moments gets.  The band lacks any sense of original songwriting, and their lyrics passively recycle over used themes.  Take their most assertive song, “Slave,” which describes daily life as a prison, describing the day as a “grind,” with grade-school imagery of breaking “free” from a metaphoric “noose.”  Bet you’ve never heard that one before…  The rest of the album is your basic rock star life style fair.  “Hell Yeah” takes no censor in objectifying women, and “Tears” pulls a 180 and takes the viewpoint of heartbreak – there’s little consistency beyond just going through the motions.

In the end, there’s just too much other good music out there to warrant Black Sunshine.  With little to no creative vision, they march to the same tired drum that radio stations have been beating for years.  Their self-titled album might be good for a stand alone single to a very casual audience, but even then they lack a defining hook to make them more than a forgettable opening act for the very idols they worship.  Not worth the disc space it occupies.