by Ziggy Merritt
photo courtesy of the band
From their debut, Scribble Mural Comic Journal, to their most recent double-EP, Planning Weed Like It’s Acid/Life Is Loss, the shifting membership of pop wizards, A Sunny Day in Glasgow has enjoyed continual success. Many of their releases easily work their way into the year-end best-of lists from publications ranging from Pitchfork to Drowned in Sound. While often fitting somewhere in the broad scale of dream pop, the project has always remained, in many ways, experimental.
Having had the opportunity to chat with the band (minus vocalist and cellist, Annie Fredrickson, and bassist Ryan Newmeyer) they confirmed in their own refreshing and inimitable style that the same double-EP was a continuation on that constant experimentation. Planning Weed Like It’s Acid/Life Is Loss was recorded and released all within the year, something done purposefully after having spent close to two and a half years planning and recording their previous album, Sea When Absent.
“This needed to come out in 2015”, replies vocalist, Jen Goma. “That’s the reason that it’s on CD and not on vinyl. We really wanted to know that we could write songs and record them in the same year and have that satisfaction.”
“Everybody wrote songs,” as guitarist Josh Meakim puts it. “You worked on it or you didn’t, and then we just got it done.”
The result of this are two EPs that show an incredible range from their more subtle shoegaze tracks to an ambient, epic throng similar to the maximalist quality of an M83 album. Having asked about the more ambient touch I was treated to a fitting response from Meakim, who played a brief experimental guitar solo which admittedly took me off guard. However, having discovered that my phone was not malfunctioning, I managed a short, awkward laugh before remarking on their upcoming tour, of which their New Year’s Eve show was remarked as “the” party to be at according to the folks at Pitchfork.
“We had confetti cannons last year, so we’re going to have more of those,” says Goma. “We’re probably going to do a cover, it feels good to start off with a cover. Last year we really enjoyed having that sort of responsibility to start people’s year off. More confetti, more lights, same amount of covers. More alcohol.”
Familiar friends in Mercury Girls will join them that evening, along with EZTV and DJ Jeff Zeigler at Johnny Brenda’s on December 31st. The occasion marks “a rare chance to see us all”, as Goma puts it. And as I promised to tell them in this same feature, yes I will also be in attendance to ring in the new year with merriment and alcohol (responsibly and with coverage of the event, naturally). Check out their video for one of their most recent singles, “Hey, You’re Mine” below!
