Formed in spring of 2005, for the sole reason of providing a friend with an out of the ordinary song for a movie, the boys of Glen and the Sunshine Gang soon came to the realization that this experience had more to offer them than a one-time project. Being surrounded by many friends immersed in the sounds of the Orange County hardcore scene, Glen and the Sunshine Gang cleverly incorporated the aggressive style of that sound into their own particular brand of 80’s influenced dance rock.
For a few years, they made countless friends and fans around the OC venue circuit until they relocated to Los Angeles in January of 2008. This move proved to be a wise decision packed with amazing opportunities such as gracing the stages of House of Blues, The Key Club, and the The Grove of Anaheim and numerous placements in independent movies and web series’.
In the early days, Glen and the Sunshine Gang often had a staggering roster of 12 members on stage at once that included dancers, a percussion section, and a rapper. Since then, the group has rounded down to 6 spandex clad young men!
Every so often, a band appears seemingly out of nowhere and releases a single, Ep and video you’ve never heard of before, but it is so completely magnetic that you wonder what you ever did without it. Glen and the Sunshine Gang is such a band. “Y-2-K” is such a single and video, and Crash Landing On Purpose – Part One is such an Ep!
I fell in love with it on first listen and knew straight off, that it was going to feature very high in my albums of the year( which year? any year!) list. The lead single “Y-2-K” was the song that inspired me to listen to the entire Ep. It’s a curious, energetic song, underpinned by an insidious electro-rock beat with slightly off-key vocals in the verses before bursting into glorious bridges and choruses. It sounds like a real sleeper hit single that could hanging around the indie charts for ages.
The whole album is filled with songs that sound so energetic and effortless, while they all have razor sharp hook-lines and killer choruses. “The Biggest”, “Lose My Mind”, “A.D.D”, and “Gingerbread Coffin” all follow the same winning pattern. One song in particular hit me like some divine hammer on the head, the first time I heard it.
The song in question is “Gingerbread Coffin”. It’s the sweetest, yet combative and most downright infectious song you could hope to hear. Angelic vocals sing achingly sweet words in the verses that kick into heavy guitar strapping choruses, so completely and utterly overwhelming; you can’t help but bounce around the room banging your head.
Let’s get it out of the way immediately – Crash Landing On Purpose – Part One is an immensely contagious and audacious indie heavy-pop record. Glen and the Sunshine Gang have a lot of powerful drum arrangements, crunching guitars and electronic synthesizers and sounds featured in most of their songs. This keeps their music punchy and energetic with good vibes and uplifting feelings.
I adore the single, I adore the extravagantly dynamic video, and I adore the Ep…but most importantly, I adore this band! Grab their music now and bring some perfect electro-rock sunshine into your life!
Glen and the Sunshine Gang is made up of: Tyler Trautman – vocals and backflips, Mike “Rook” Wildt – bass and lasers, Zac Hargrave – shred guitar and hair, Kenny Shackelford – guitar and stunts, Mike Longenbach – synthesizer and buffness, Marc Alcabar – Drums and stuff.
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