Sundials – Kick

Indie-punk act Sundials has been shamelessly hopping labels since they first started making waves a handful of years back.  It seems that everyone wants to boast about releasing the latest and greatest from the Virginia three-piece.  Right before signing to their current home on Epitaph Records, the band released a substantial six-song EP with Topshelf Records.  While most EPs tend to get the backseat treatment in a band’s discography, Kick is well worth the front-and-centre recognition that Topshelf will rightfully tout as the latest edition to their label library.

Sundials boasts an easily digestible brand of indie-punk often interchangeably lumped in with the college scene.  The disc’s tempo lands somewhere just north of midtempo where frontman Harris’ lead vocals lock the band squarely into the Cheap Girls, Spraynard and The Sidekicks camp.  Opener “Dealin’,” a tune about agoraphobia, captures the snarky attitude inherent in today’s early 20’s scene – in other words it’s tastefully juvenile in a young-adult sort of way.  “Why can’t I pick myself up, anymore?” questions the band in unison as they attempt to understand the maturing feelings of getting older in “Splinter.”  Sundials’ latch onto that somewhat awkward stage of emerging independence; that time in your life when when you’re supposed to be able to make it on your own but you just don’t have a clue, so you just fake it the best you can.

Those that may have been on the fence with Sundials in the past stand to make the jump with gems like “Stun Spore.”  Beaming with fresh hooks and a catchy chorus, the song has “single” written all over it.  It’s the type of attractive tune that many indie-pop bands attempt, but few pull off with such breezy execution.  Fans of Farewell Continental will surely want to check this one out.  

On the eve of joining Epitaph Records, Sundials’ sole Topshelf Records release offers listeners a six-song reminder as to the sound that must have lured talent scouts their way.  So while we all await their hotly anticipated follow-up, kick back with Kick, and embrace this rock solid dose of standout indie-punk.