A guest posting by flimflamfan
Some of you may of course be conversant with all things Sunstinger. If that’s the case for the next few minutes or so, please feel to take the dog for a walk. If you don’t have a dog well, I’m not here to listen your canine inadequacies – he joked.
Sunstinger are originally from Dunfermline but have close ties to Aberdeen.
My first connection with the band is vague. I was aware of the first EP being released but I couldn’t tell you how I was aware? It seems the band had an association with a company called Lucid Shade from at approx. 2018 and have released videos for songs that were never released e.g.:
Sunstinger – All The Things You Wish I’d Say
Bandcamp now tells me that the band released at least 2 individual tracks available to download. I’d no inking of these songs till the debut 4-track EP, Beyond The Frame was released in 2021. It captured my imagination for two reasons:
1. I was taken with each song: and
2. I wanted to own them.
The price of the self-released EP was £20 plus £5 postage. It just seemed too much for me. I declined the purchase. Yet, every now and then ownership of the EP would float through my head and I felt like a fool as the limited-edition EPs were snapped up in short order.
It should be noted that in 2024 Sonic Rising Records (US) re-released Beyond The Frame to include 4 more songs. It was like an LP, right? Some limited to just 25 copies. I was in. I wanted this. I even liked the cover art variation more than the original. As might be expected, once postage and tax had been added via Bandcamp the price of the vinyl I was looking at rose to £44. I once again declined.
What we have next is all but a repeat of the above. The second 5-track EP Worthless was released in 2024. I was determined just to buy the EP having tortured myself about not buying the first. However, the same issue arose. The price. It was just too much. I decided not to purchase, again.
I do understand the cost of limited-edition vinyl production but there’s a point when my early 1980s vinyl radar pulses with “£1.99. £1.99. £1.99”.
And so, bang up-to-date Sunstinger is set to release a new EP Spare Me The Rapture come mid-September. Again, it’s a limited edition. This time 100 on Absinthe Bloom coloured vinyl? I wonder if B&Q have Absinthe Bloom paint in stock? I think it’d cheer my kitchen up no end.
In the meantime, I’ve been able to acquire the first 2 EPs at reasonable prices. I’m pretty chuffed – although the US variant eludes me, for now. I bit the bullet and paid the pre-order price for Spare Me The Rapture. My reasoning – the music is beautiful, and we have to support grassroots music, don’t we?
Spare Me The Rapture is the only track from the new EP that is publicly available, for now.
Sunstinger – Spare Me The Rapture
Enjoy!
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 