Shuffle and Stories is an attempt to get a more personal look on why we feel the way we do about music. Music is like art, subjective, and that means that everyone has a different way at looking at one album or band. Every week Ill pick from one of ten songs when my library is on shuffle and talk about the music but also talk about why I personally like it or tell any personal stories regarding the music.
Techskate is one of my favorite genres so theres no doubt in my mind that I want to talk about Sunsgrind. However the funny thing about Techskate is that I dont think its actually a genre and I can only think of 4-5 bands that I know that would actually fit into being Techskate. For those unaware Techskate is a form of Skatepunk that is super technical in writing, pretty basic right? Well it seems that no one really does it and all the bands that do all each have a different way of going about it. Thankfully today were talking about Sunsgrind who in my mind have the most standard form of Techskate. I dont have much to say about the band because theres not a whole lot I know about them (most Techskate bands are from Japan) so well go through their whole discography today instead. While there was a Demo in 2003 none of the material is unique (it was three songs, two showed up on their first album and one on their first EP) so I guess you could say Sunsgrind hit the scene with their debut EP Misdirection, while only three songs long I guess I would say that it could be considered influential because both the tracks Owning To You and Missing You sound like they laid some of the ground work for the genre but thats a rather bold statement given the lack of information out there. Either way the EP stands up as still sound relevant for a 2004 release. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgx1atA5eZc With Sunsgrinds first album however they really kicked into gear. Far From A Precipice is a fantastic album that excels in all fronts. The music is super fast, the instrumentation is wicked technical, and the delivery makes the music so fun to listen to. What really makes Far From A Precipice such a great listen is that even with all its speed and crazy guitar work it never sounds too experimental or technical too easily listen to. If you can ever get your ears on it Id highly recommend this album, especially if you are looking for a good idea of what Techskate might be. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25wi6SvUMTk I should probably mention that all of the Sunsgrind releases thus far feature vocalist Ryo Kazuma. Their second album however, Truth Is Eternal But With Lies, features a different singer. If I recall correctly this singers name is Fumi (Ive seen a couple pictures where he is referred to as that so it is my assumption) and the video above even features a guest appearance from the singer of 16Reasons. This time around I have to say that I dont enjoy TIEBWL as much as FFAP, the album is still pretty good but I think its a little noodlier and lacks a lot of the ease and catchiness that FFAP had. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu_ZOXg4gsk After Truth Is Eternal But With Lies Sunsgrind decided to go on hiatus. They returned with Kazuma three years later for the Like A Grown-Up Expression EP, which in my opinion is their best work to date. The music has become a little less insane in speed and technicality but the balance to that is that Sunsgrind has never sounded so unbelievably solid. The songwriting on this EP is so on point its not even funny, each of the six tracks has a very distinguishable identity to it, something that was more problematic in earlier releases. Just listening to the last minute of Letter To Betrayer shows how much this band has grown since their inception. Sunsgrind goes alongside Fact and F.I.B as not only one of my favorite bands inside Techskate but outside as well. Their sound is unique and there are few bands out in the world that can match them in terms of speed and technical ability in the vein of Skatepunk.