Band : Sunpower

Album title : Pain For Profit

Label : Rock And Roll Radio

Distributor : Sonic Rendezvous

Release date : 24/02/2008

Release : CD

All rigthy baby, Belgium's Sunpower is back with their second full-length! I know, it's béén a couple of months since the album's release, but family and personal problems at the house of the guy who's normally in contact with us for the label's promotions have prevented him to get us a promo copy until May 1 st , so...

For a really extensive history-of-the-band, check out the review done (by yours truly) of their debut full-length, posted 29/05/2006, and for an update, check out the text underneath! First of all, a little correction: the band did nót get a new drummer...in fact Davy and Keith Mon are one and the same person, the name being derived from Mon being Davy 's nickname from his days in Die My Demon , and Keith Moon from The Who being his favourite drummer.

Sunpower backed up the release of Sunpower by a series of gigs, which also took 'em back to the UK (with Shredder and Prijsduifkes ) for a brief spurt of shows. Two guys in the band having wives and children kinda takes the fun out of big ass tours, see, but all in all the guys managed to play a good 17 shows (which would see the guys playing alongside acts like Ulrikes Dre am (at Leuven's Boycot MarktRock ), Reproach , Prijsduifkes , Lunatic Society , The Rats (It), SL27 , Shredder , The Despised (US), Sick Terror (Brazil), Send More Paramedics (UK), and Janez Deth during the rest of the year), as well as playing the Ieperfest at the end of the Summer. A special show was played on halloween 2006 at Aalst 's Negasonic , where Sunpower played a set of The Misfits songs, their support band on that evening, Cash Reloaded , bringing an acoustic set of songs by "The Man In Black". Late 2006, the band is asked to join Negative Approach on stage at Hof ter Loo for their only European show on May 12 th , a request easily enough accepted by the crazy quartet, even if Mike was expected to become a father again around March or April, the band taking out time to allow him to do his first fatherly duties.

The band returns to the live front on April 30 th , doing two shows the same day! From now on shows are a rare comodity, the band also taking out time to write new songs for upcoming recordings for their sophomore album. Around early June, some 12 new songs had been completed. Meanwhile, the band still did their 2-3 gigs per month, even stepped into the van for a longer trip to France (Lille) and Holland (Hoogeveen's Trashfest and an additional gig in Nijmegen), not forgetting to do the couple of important gigs on the homefront (Opwijk's Loco Loco festival saw them share the stage with the likes of Spermbirds , Usual Suspects , The Spanks , and more; Gent's Gentse Feesten @ Frontline doing the same with Dirty Scum and Capital Scum ). September 2007 brings news of the release of a Spermbirds tribute 7"EP on Peter Bower Records , to which Sunpower contributed their version of "My God Rides A Skateboard" (recorded during the sessions for Sunpower , during which additional cover songs from Bad Brains , Circle Jerks , Minor Threat , 7 Seconds , and an old Sunpower classic were also taken down). Other contributors to that tribute were Lowlife UK , TV Party , Swellbellys , Bickles Cab , and B.S.D. . Prior to going into the studio in November, the band still does a couple of gigs, the most "important" being those where they support The Despised (US) and Feeding Tim e (Aus) in Amsterdam, and No Redeeming Social Value (US) at Leuven's Kraakpand . In 3 days, the band records and mixes a total of 17 songs, one of which was to be released in early 2008 on a Belgian compilation 7-inch EP (released through Deviant Records ) titled Belgium's Burning , also including songs by A Den Of Robbers , Damaged Goods , Furious , Ravaged , Reproach , Shredder , Tod Pole , Vogue , and Vuur . Sunpower managed to put in some extra gigs, the most significant being on Dec. 7 th in support of the closing Lintfabriek .

2008 starts gloriously enough with the release party of Belgium's Burning at Aalst's Negasonic , the only bands not there that night being Tod Pole and Vogue . February 22 nd , the guys feast again, this time for the release of their new album, and in their hometown Opwijk. Late March (22 to 31), Sunpower went on a US tour, playing a total of 11 shows in the North-Western part of the States...a tour which was a total success (if you're interested, drummer Davy put down his experiences in a tour report which can be checked at mashnote.net/index2.php?page=1&type=column&id=87).

Tim e to turn over to the new album which, like the debut, contains 16 songs. Still, where the debut only lasted a good 19 minutes, Pain For Profit now lasts a stunning 21:50!!! Hahah, let's see the fun in things, eh? Musically, the band is slightly more versatile, allowing for some deviations from the full-throttle pace on the debut. And, you know, it amazes me more and more how the combination of only slightly distorted guitar, the singer's vocals, and the band's stubborn-minded intent to play early '80s US Hardcore Punk, make me wanna shout out the injustice done to these musicians for being born Belgians! Because as we all know, it is virtually impossible for a Belgian musician to live off his/ her music...if (s)he doesn't sell his(her) soul to one of the major labels (who never stay true to their artists for long enough to to allow 'em to profit from their music's revenues as well...providing of course they give the artists a deal which is interesting enough to more that just the label)! Goodness me, how singer Mike reminds me of Jello Biafra 's (vocal) antics, I can't tell you! But hey, you can check that out for yourself, as you might surf to myspace.com/sunpower right now, to find the four first tracks of the new album posted alongside two of the debut. Be sure to check out the posted video (I guess it's recorded at the Ieperfest of last year to witness the frenzy at a Sunpower gig.

If you're wondering about the artwork of the CD, know that Sunpower members are vegetarians, and strongly opposed against unnecessary cruelty against animals. It's bad enough that animals have to die to be worked into some garment, but skinning 'em alive to allow the fur to better retain it's gloss? Yùk!!! Ehrmm...I didn't even know people did that, could indeed be só...cruel! And I'm sure fur most fur wearing ladies (and men) usually never though about such possible atrocities either! But Animal Rights ain't the only thing the singer rants on about, in fact he sings about several things he hates and loves, and also brings a beautiful ode to our country's capital city.

Anyways, this is about the band's music too! And I hàve to say I cannot let this one go without giving it an absolute top rating, and in spite of my amount of nominations to the "Best Albums Of 2008"-list, a top rating is still a rare commodity!!! Let it be known that, in spite of the fact that Rock 'n' Roll Radio has provided me with a free copy of the CD, I'm still buying one of the vinyl versions of the album (for the interested, there's 700 copies with the regular cover art, 100 pre-order copies with different artwork, and an additional 100 copies with a special release cover – but the latter were probabaly completely sold out during the release gig).

100/100

Tony.