The songs’ power comes from a combination of their thought-provoking ideas and the conviction in their delivery, and this bunch of fist-pumping anthems pack a fairly hefty punch.
This second outing for young Melbourne five-piece The Smith Street Band is a knowing and intelligent howl of socio-political polemic and suburban angst, frontman Wil Wagner bellowing in the opening title track Sunshine & Technology, “and we deal with first world problems with aplomb”, railing against a raft of issues while completely acknowledging that we live in a country where things can never get that out of hand.
That's not to suggest that the power and the passion of Wagner's outpourings are in any way phlegmatic. Indeed, his shouty, distinctly Aussie everyman delivery masks some fantastic lyricism; despite his at times bleak worldview he has a canny grasp of wordplay. Statements such as “we get high because we're scared of time” (I Can't Feel My Face) or “if everything we fought for is now a fucking joke at least I'm not the punchline” (Stay Young) would be fascinating in any context, but they're deftly dropped against a background of poverty and denial – all drugs, commission flats and suicide attempts – making them both relevant and riveting. When Wagner rails against modern malaise in the catchy I Want Friends and angrily concludes that, “it's all so fucking meaningless!” he's seemingly trying to subvert apathy instead of defend nihilism, an important distinction.
Of course despite the strength of these lyric-driven narratives it wouldn't work without good music behind them, and the album delivers this – nothing groundbreaking but solid and dynamic, enough to carry the dense diatribes. The songs' power comes from a combination of their thought-provoking ideas and the conviction in their delivery, and this bunch of fist-pumping anthems pack a fairly hefty punch.