Sunshine Mind - Sunshine Mind

Sunshine Mind

Sunshine Mind
self-released; 2015

3.6 out of 5

By Jamie Robash

LA based band Sunshine Mind began back in 2014 as the duo of guitarist and vocalist Henry Lopez from Bastidas and drummer/percussionist Travis Moore of Kat Kong. The two began working on writing the type of up-tempo and hook laden rock surf rock riffs which they then infused with a bit of shoegaze fuzz. Later on after Travis Moore recovered from a nearly fatal motorcycle accident the two finally decided to round out the band adding Sonia Hernandez on keys, Edgar Barrios on bass and Stanlee Sigala on guitar. 

Each of Sunshine Mind’s members resides in or around the Baldwin Park and Echo Park neighborhoods of Los Angeles and they are proud of that. One gets a feel for this sense of pride from the brightness inflected in their music. Their debut five-song self-titled EP Sunshine Mind out on Lollipop Records is soaked in rays of bright and upbeat riffs and warm tones of fuzz. 

The opening track, “Feeling Fine (Easy Breezy)” is a wash of hazy guitar chugs, thick bass slaps. Henry Lopez’s vocals are focused and upbeat. It provides the perfect segue into the surf-pop explosion that is, “Darling (Mountain Top),” which has a breezy beat to it and a few instances of bluesy guitar notes. Next though “Falling Leaves” gets a bit more spacey and ripples with hollow echoes of guitar feedback. 

The chorus is catchy as hell, as is the lengthy and brash guitar solo. “Cosmic Krash” continues in this vein of upbeat and spacey pop and one can finally hear the keyboards coming through a bit, which helps to add a nice dynamic. “Cosmic Krash” is likely the catchiest tune on the album. Sunshine Mind close out Sunshine Mind with the jangle pop ditty “Serene.” With its great ode to surf rock guitar riff, it could easily find its way into some mainstream radio airplay. 

Sunshine Mind definitely has the surf-pop formula down, and it works very well for an EP. However after about five songs, many of which have the same musical feel to them, one starts to hope that they would try to branch out a little more. However if consistency is your thing, then Sunshine Mind is an easy listening day at the beach.  

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