The Smith Street Band

The Smith Street Band: Sunshine & TechnologySunshine & Technology (2012)
Poison City Records

Reviewer Rating: 3.5

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Contributed by: owneroperatorowneroperator
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Published on September 4th 2012The Smith Street Band hail from Melbourne in Victoria and you damn well tell these lads are Australian. The enigmatic frontman Wil Wagner sings with such passion and strength that you can't help but be sucked into their own recipe of poppy folk punk. Often I'll look for other bands to compare an art.

The Smith Street Band hail from Melbourne in Victoria and you damn well tell these lads are Australian. The enigmatic frontman Wil Wagner sings with such passion and strength that you can't help but be sucked into their own recipe of poppy folk punk. Often I'll look for other bands to compare an artist to but their sound is so original it's hard to do, maybe Against Me!, no not AM! although I'd say that there is some frequent rotation of The Eternal Cowboy in the touring van.

Sunshine & Technology is the band's second album but it feels as if it could be their tenth. The follow up to 2011's No One Gets Lost Anymore and the South East Facing Wall 7" (available for free at their Bandcamp page) from the same year is nothing new from these guys, but it doesn't need to be. They're so accomplished at what they're doing from the catchy hooks to Wagner's thick Australian vocals that it almost seems as if there is no room for improvement.

"I Want Friends" is a great song and epitomizes Wagner's approach to songwriting; he sings what he knows. He writes about friends growing up and how he doesn't want to-"It's all fucking meaningless," he writes about how he sees the world-"The only thing you can not buy is time." He'll let you know how he feels: "I want friends who don't give a fuck again!"

A change in tone is evident in "Young Drunk." It feels sadder but still in your face; how they pull this off I don't know, maybe it's the acoustic intro and the line "One day there will come a time when the person you were named after dies and all of a sudden you're the only one left." And then all of a sudden he's in your face with "Tonight I'm getting young drunk" and "I can make as much noise as I want!"

With their intense touring of Australia and upcoming set at the Fest 11, as well as Frank Turner claiming to be "absolutely obsessed" with them, it's only a mater of time til everyone you know is telling you about the Smith Street Band. A great record for fans of previous releases from these lads and anything with a bit of passion in it. Spanning genres from pop to punk to straight up Aussie rock with a touch of that touring troubadour folk sound, Sunshine & Technology is one for the ages.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

minics (January 30, 2013)

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btrax (December 8, 2012)

Epitome of punk. Album of the Year.

eran_zombis (November 14, 2012)

This album is really good, but I do kinda agree with easy that the songs are too long. Lots of mellow, building bridges. In particular I'd have liked to see What's Changed shortened by quite a bit to keep the energy up. Still one of my favorite songs on the record though.

owneroperator (September 5, 2012)

This record rules... but this comment is coming from a fuckin illiterate scene boy retard, so I'm not sure if you can trust it.

thepasswordistaco (September 4, 2012)

great record. its weird to see a band that showed the style diversity of the last record (and even more so on wil wagner and friends) move forward to make an album that is almost exclusively orgcore- but it works and provides a good group of rockers to flesh out the live set. it lacks some of the emotional punch of "no one gets lost" as the lyrics are a little more universal and a little less personal than before (there's no little sinking ship equivalent on this record), but they do a good job of not sinking into genre tropes and the record stays engaging throughout. as young as they are, this band is only going to get better and will probably be one of the highlights of fest.

canaandrumzz (September 4, 2012)

Why do we keep referring to this band as folk punk? Is it because the dude has a similar accent to Frank Turner? Is Frank Turner folk punk? I mean he was in a punk band and now is a singer-songwriter which doesn't mean his sound is folk-punk either.

But this doesn't even have acoustic guitars in the album (except for a part here or there). Why do people keep calling it folk punk?

Problematiclogic (September 4, 2012)

They sound like Frank Turner fronting The Menzingers to me.

Good record, agree with everyone else that it's not quite as good as the first.

arejaypunx (September 4, 2012)

I hate to be the guy who says their old stuff is better, but I've been slightly let down by both of their albums. Don't get me wrong, they're both excellent... but South East Facing Wall... that's a fuckin' EP.

Villan (September 4, 2012)

Taking into account the complete awesomeness of their debut, gotta say I'm SLIGHTLY disappointed with this record. It's REALLY solid and as an album flows much better than NOGLA, but doesn't quite have the killer hooks. Kinda like Text Bomb after The Apology Wars.

Like it a lot, some great tracks, just don't love it. Maybe I just need a little more time with it.

goodna (September 4, 2012)

Great album! Keep it up!

eazyd2 (September 4, 2012)

their songs go on for too long and are pretty boring and the reviewer is a fuckin illiterate scene boy retard

hayman (September 4, 2012)

Newcastle, good times. Have you seen Local Resident Failure before Spare?

spare (September 4, 2012)

yea fantastic record. not quite as great as their first but still kills it. seein em in newcastle on friday.

hayman (September 4, 2012)

Great band, I'll be going to see them with Restorations on the 9th. Good times.

tnimark (September 4, 2012)

These guys are phenomenal. I saw them at The Tote in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago and it was probably top 5 for most fun I've ever had at a show. Both of their albums are terrific. Everybody go listen to them.