A Sunny Day in Glasgow

Despite the Anglocentricity of its name, Philadelphia's A Sunny Day in Glasgow is far from some Belle and Sebastian clone. Instead, the coed ensemble reaches toward the heavens with a wispy, wintry shoegaze sound that's as abstract as it is dizzying. Like a shitstorm in a teacup, A Sunny Day's...

By Jason Heller

March 4, 2010

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Despite the Anglocentricity of its name, Philadelphia's A Sunny Day in Glasgow is far from some Belle and Sebastian clone. Instead, the coed ensemble reaches toward the heavens with a wispy, wintry shoegaze sound that's as abstract as it is dizzying. Like a shitstorm in a teacup, A Sunny Day's debut full-length, 2006's Scribble Mural Comic Journal, is full of blunted angles and skittish hooks that take My Bloody Valentine's aural washes and scramble them into something far more disembodied and deeper in the dream cycle. Despite some major changes in the group's lineup, last year's Ashes Grammar is just as blindingly brilliant; packed with whiteout soundscapes and avalanche-trapped vocals, the disc embraces the depths of sonic probing and the heights of beauty. But as with MBV, there's a chance A Sunny Day's careful chaos could turn into a shimmering, disorienting haze at this hi-dive show. We can only hope.

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