The Ruby Suns - Sea Lion

Memphis Industries

The Ruby Suns are Ryan McPhun and his band of fellow New Zealanders. The idea for Sea Lion appears to be to cram as many influences as possible – African and Polynesian folk music, flamenco, Eighties synth-pop and Disney movie soundtracks included – onto a disc with a good helping of sunshine pop.

The Ruby Suns pick up the mantle that Mercury Rev, Animal Collective et al left – this is experimental indie, so don’t expect cut-and-dried songs. More often than not experiments fail, but most on this album turn out just fine. In fact, with an open mind, it’s a lot of fun and bears comparison with The Flaming Lips. ‘Kenya Dig It?’ is already a big student radio hit, and ‘There Are Birds’, with its driving bassline, will also have mainstream appeal. With their reverb-laden vocals, it’s no wonder The Shins are big fans. This release will add plenty more. Andrew Williamson

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DOWNLOAD: ‘THERE ARE BIRDS’, ‘KENYA DIG IT?’, ‘TANE MAHUTA’.
FOR FANS OF: THE FLAMING LIPS, ANIMAL COLLECTIVE.

Issue #52 - Very Bro-some

Featuring Panama Kings, ASIWYFA, an investigation into DIY touring, details of what over 25 of the finest NI bands are up to in 2009 and much more.