A Sunny Day in Glasgow – Scribble Mural Comic Journal

A Sunny Day in Glasgow
Scribble Mural Comic Journal

The story goes that A Sunny Day in Glasgow began as a bedroom recording project of Ben Daniels of King Kong Ding Dong and Ever Nalens before morphing into the current trio of Ben and his identical twin sisters, Robin and Lauren. With his cyclical guitar cascades and their ethereal vocals, Scribble Mural Comic Journal emerges sounding like the mutant offspring of Cocteau Twins and The Jesus & Mary Chain. Sure to evoke more than a fair share of My Bloody Valentine comparisons too, which is becoming the benchmark of laziness in modern album reviews, A Sunny Day in Glasgow have concocted a terrific record despite having one of the worst band names I’ve ever heard.

Scribble Mural Comic Journal will cause much head scratching right out of the gate if you let the comparisons cloud your judgment of its opening tracks. “Wake Up Pretty” is a subtly electronic and brief intro to “No. 6 Von Karman Street,” another electronic track with sighing vocals that belies all of the fuzzy atmospherics and acute noise pop of the rest of the album. After the impression of two separate intros, “A Mundane Phone Call to Jack Parsons” appears to claim its place amongst the best pop songs of 2007. Changing gears from bubbly techno-lite to tumbling feedback and booming drums, its lush (no pun intended) vocal delivery perfectly complements a wealth of noise with just the right ratio of melody. All the references to rocket scientists, Von Karman and Jack Parsons, would seem appropriate as ASDIG definitely seems to have its head in the proverbial clouds.

“Our Change Into Rain is No Change at All(Talkin’ Bout Us)” certainly flaunts its Cocteaus influence during its opening bars, layered acoustic guitars and keyboard opening up to wordless vocalizing from Lauren and Robin before putting a slower, Low Level Owl-era Appleseed Cast style arpeggiated bridge to good use. “Ghost in the Graveyard” peels away the repetitive beat after a minute or so to reveal chiming guitar work while “5:15 Train” springs to life with a very Fennesz-ian smear of processed guitar. “C’mon” is worthy of all the raving you might hear about its bending guitars, haunting vocals, and tinkling percussion. “Panic Attacks Are What Make Me ‘Me’” is a delicious loop of shimmering guitar and electronics, spinning off light in all directions. “Watery (Drowning is Just Another Word for Being Buried Alive Under Water)” is another sweet confection of pop goodness only outshined here by the aforementioned “A Mundane Phone Call to Jack Parsons.” “The Best Summer Ever” closes Scribble Mural Comic Journal on a high note with jangly strumming before melting into autumnal bliss.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow release Scribble Mural Comic Journal on a world already prepped with shoegaze revivalists such as Asobi Seksu and Serena-Maneesh. Although the group appears to wear its influences on its sleeves, the real beauty here is the honesty and warmth with which they are presented. It would be a real crime to see this record dismissed as another bandwagon hopper on the shoegaze revival. If there isn’t enough room in the current scene for a record this gorgeous then we’ve got some serious problems.