Never underestimate the impact of a My Bloody Valentine record. Even as we approach the 20th anniversary of that Irish band's genre-defining
Loveless, traces of that album's ferocious sonic influence still permeate legions of new bands and young songwriters. Mobile's the Sunshine Factory are the latest to join the never-ending crusade of the oncoming shoegaze revolution/resurgence. It's said that chief Sunshine Factory songwriter Ian Taylor's musical vision crystallized after he heard MBV; certainly he channels the spirit of Kevin Shields in his band's mature and developed debut. The shoegaze hero worship is evident — Slowdive, Ride, Lush, etc. — but there's more here than just copycat soundscapes. "Twisted and Clover" starts with a lazy, early-'90s college-rock guitar sludge before diving into a sprawling sonic head trip on concrete that feels like a midnight daydream. Sweet-toothed "My Sugar Cane" blends the wall-of-sound approach with a ribbed white rainbow of electronics under an insanely tantalizing chorus, giving us a taste of what this genre could encompass with a modernized touch. The Sunshine Factory are yet to find a label, and they seem destined to do battle with a California band using the same moniker, but both of those issues should be remedied by the time they're asked to headline Boston's Deep Heaven Now festival next year.
