From the opening drumbeats of Don’t Need To Be Them, the first track off Swedish indie pop rockers The Sun Days’ self-titled album, hitting ‘stop’ is not an option. Nor is comparing lead singer Elsa Fredriksson’s crystal clear voice to ABBA. Described as “a natural” by her bandmates, her voice is for real, as is the unstoppable songwriting talent and musicianship in each of these five twenty-somethings hailing from Gothenburg.
Simon Boontham on rhythm guitar and Joe Enocsson on lead, Erik Bjarnar on drums and Johan Ramnebrink on bass set the standard for the band’s driving, melodic, indie jangle pop-rock sound. A little bit Cranberries, a little bit a-ha, and a whole lot of The Smiths with a hint of The Lightning Seeds shine through in their sound. Their influences, they report, are “very clear: Beatles and Ventures combined with local [Swedish] pop heroes: Broder Daniel, Bad Cash Quartet and Makthaverskan.” Despite comparisons to the latter band, they argue that they are completely different. “A lot of people say that we sound like all the bands from some 90s label from England,” said Enocsson, the band’s spokesperson. “Can’t remember the name but I remember that they were right.”
The Cure? The Smiths? The combination of serious subjects dealt with in simple lyrics married with energetic rhythms and unforgettable melodies with intelligent chord progressions entrench The Sun Days’ sound in the realm of these two definitive new wave British bands. At the same time, it would be doing these bright young things a disservice to throw them in a musical genre prison and throw away the key.
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The five come from various backgrounds to create this stand-alone sound. Johan and Simon played in a band at the local kulturskola (a spare-time school for music and arts) where Joe was the drummer for an ensemble covering Toto and Status Quo songs. Erik was involved in the electronic music scene and “Elsa is just a natural,” said Joe. While Johan and Simon claim roots in the punk scene, Joe cites an affection for death metal from a young age. Music lessons? Did they ever get any and how did it go? Two words from Joe: “Yes,” and “Shit.” While Joe writes most of the songs, he said, “there is more to songwriting than just writing songs. Everyone in the band writes something in each song in their own way and the songs wouldn’t have been the same if it was just me.”
The Sun Days’ debut album is exclusively released in the Philippines by Lilystars Records under license by LUXXURY Sweden. Follow The Sun Days on Facebook.