LogFAQs > #967300923

Sunspot - Singularity results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
Seanchan (33)
HBJDubs (35)
FoolFantastic (37)
Johnbobb (37)
BlueCrystalTear (39)
rwlh (40)
Raetsel_Lapin (46)
MetalmindStats (47)

General Album Comments

Seanchan: Worst album we've covered.

LOL, NO just kidding. I came into this with pretty low expectations, but I come away a little gobsmacked. I listen to this and I think, this could absolutely be commercially successful, instead of only having 260 monthly Spotify listeners.

There's a strong pop-punk vibe that's absolutely in my wheelhouse, though there's definitely some songs that go a little harder or a little more acoustic. Lots of catchy riffs and choruses. Instrumentation is good, singing is good.

I was trying to get some other stuff done while doing my initial listen, and I kept having to stop as something about this demanded my attention!

Looking forward to giving this a few more listens. I sure hope that we get some good participation this week, even though it's a "no name" band.

BlueCrystalTear: As I said when I nominated this, Im friends with them. Im in their inner circle. I sometimes do watchalongs with them online, and they accept me for the weirdo I am. They also make awesome music and have for 25 years, with their first album coming in 2000 and their most recent the day my nominations were due (I got drunk at the club at the release party). Sunspot has always had three members: Mike Huberty (lead vocals, bass guitar), Ben Jaeger (guitars, keyboards, backing/harmony vocals), and Wendy Lynn Markus (nee Staats; drums, violin, backing/harmony vocals). Formed in college when Wendy replaced a guy who got cold feet, they are basically family now.

As the title implies, Singularity had 12 songs released as singles, one per month for a year, before they were all assembled onto an album (with tracks in release order) with bonus track Alive Day. I legit like every song here (ranking them is, like ChichiriMuyo said last week, "like ranking one's own children"), and its nice to take a trip through an artistic evolution that explores a diversity of influences. The consistency largely stems from the focus on one song at a time. For these reasons, I expect there to be very variable rankings.

The monthly nature helped begin Sunspots transition from raw indie music to glossy, polished arena rock. The next album, the space-rock The Slingshot Effect (the last album recorded at Garbage's Smart Studios), was yet another step further, but it was their next album after that, Weirdest Hits (an amalgamation of EPs, rather than a true compilation), was where they really exploded into that arena rock sound. (I didnt choose that one due to its intimidating 77-minute runtime and 18 tracks.) That one's worth a listen too, if you have the time. You may be surprised at how different the production sounds compared to this one.

Also fun: The video for "Grand Guignol" is hilarious (both Ben and Wendy nail it here), and not what you'd expect from a song named for a French horror theatre:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9HK5R_jx4c

HBJDubs: With the first few tracks I wasn't sure if I liked the vocals or not, like some parts sounded really good and some parts sounded...I guess weird is the best word? The middle of the album is very good stuff, and the last few tracks are still pretty good. Overall, solid album, with only one song I didn't like. BCT's description of their later albums got me interested in checking out their other stuff; I do enjoy both arena rock and longer albums so Weirdest Hits sounds like something right up my alley.

BlueCrystalTear: It's noticeable how much Mike's voice improved as the album went on (recall each track was recorded a month after the previous). These days, he does not sound like the same guy he did on the first few albums, and I mean that in a good way. As I said, this was sort of a "bridge album" - a metamorphosis from the band that recorded "Eat Out My Heart" into the one that would record "Arthuriana." I've posted about both songs here on B8 before, as they're two of their most popular.

MetalmindStats: Anyways, I gave Singularity my first spin tonight, from which I think I can already say that The Police clearly inspired Sunspot here. I was also relieved to find (most of) the song lyrics on Bandcamp.

BlueCrystalTear: The Police is definitely one of the influences, of which there are many. A lot of their stuff feels like it's from 1983 or 84, around that time when arena rock was moving away from New Wave and toward glam metal.

Raetsel_Lapin: A surprisingly solid album.

Johnbobb: Listened through a few times, liked it quite a bit, ranking tonight

BlueCrystalTear: I've listened like six times in the past week and, as a result, have gotten almost every song on the album stuck in my head at one point. There's both serious stuff and funny stuff on here, and both are done incredibly well. Each song has its own personality, too. Again, this is like ranking your children. Other Sunspot albums would've been similarly difficult. I hate that something has to be last. But... I think I'm happy with this.

Seanchan: There's this expression I really hate: "it was better than it had any right to be". It always strikes me as condescending, and revealing more about the person saying it than about the media/art being discussed. I know the intention isn't usually bad but still...

That stupid preamble isn't to say Singularity is better than I expected; it was MUCH better! I won't echo my first listen thoughts again, but suffice to say that they still apply. I was worried this was going to be too indie but that's not the case. Yes, some of the backup singing isn't great (mostly I'm thinking about 2012), and maybe the audio mix sounds a little muddy at points (mostly thinking about Path of Most Resistance) but I can overlook that when the rest is otherwise so strong.

I did a bonus listen this week, which is always a good sign of my enjoyment. This album goes pretty deep for me. There's some really great stuff in the top half of my ranking. I had to put Square Root of All Evil at #1 because I feel like that's the one I'm going to remember the most. I really loved how distinct all the songs sound, which made the ranking very easy. It's not until the last few songs I ranked that my enjoyment starts to fall off, but even those it's more the case of being good/fine rather than "I hate this".

So yeah, I liked this quite a bit and it was a nice way to end Ranking Cycle #3. This is one I will definitely come back to again.