When you're cutting thirty songs down to a thirteen-track running order for your debut album, as A Sunny Day in Glasgow's Ben Daniels did for his band's debut LP Scribble Mural Comic Journal, there are obviously going to be some tough omissions. But to ax your band theme song? The one where your own mother plays piano? That's cold. A bit puzzling too, as it's perhaps the tidiest pop moment in the young band's catalog.
Since it's basically a collection of polished leftovers, it makes sense that the eight-track Tout New Age EP is filled with the disorienting psych pop that was the record's trademark. In contrast, "Hugs and Kisses" is predominantly melody and light, albeit slightly off-kilter. The coy sweetness of the Daniels sisters' vocal blends in with the gentle surrounding sonics, instead of acting as counter-balance to jagged guitar or rumbling drum fills. Mom's piano sounds pretty ace as well.
Have a listen now, in advance of the EP's July 10release through iTunes, eMusic, and other fine digital-music providers.