Album Review: Sunscreen - Just A Drop

If, due to a freak transdimensional timey-wimey accident, Manchester got displaced to the Gold Coast, bands like Sunscreen would swoop in and have a whole scene of their own within months.

The Sydneysiders' debut five-tracker is soused in lo-fi melodic imperfection and frustrated urbanised daydreaming. Opener Tide is summery and romantic, singer Sarah Sykes taking the lead with guitarist Alexander McDonald bouncing off each other with the energy of young lovers lost in the suburbs before finding each other, "Running through the nighttime to hold you close". Then chaos swirls around Sykes in Far Gone as if standing in the eye of a city dust storm. For My Brother, too, has a dangerous edge, feeling as raw as any Mazzy Star or early Pretenders record.

Arms is so beautifully delicate, McDonald fingerpicking each guitar string while Sykes herself reins in what is proving to be quite the formidable voice with some light scatting. In time, don't be surprised if she emerges from the indie-pop cocoon as something else entirely.