Back in 2021, Welsh band Prosperina released an album called “Flag”, which was quite magnificent. It also gave me the chance to slag off Matt Hancock in the review, for reasons I can’t quite remember now. Anyway, I remember the record, and that’s probably the important bit.
Night On The Sun formed in 2022, bringing together former members of Prosperina and The 9ine. Now they’re here with “Whateverlike”, which allows me another opportunity to go through my theory that if your EP lasts longer than half an hour, it’s a mini-album. But we’ll move on, because no one wants to hear me go through that again.
What matters is what they do with the time, and across these six songs, there’s plenty to get your teeth into.
“Anti-Karen” starts things off with fuzz. Lots of fuzz. It’s grungy, too, but neither description quite gets to the heart of it. “Not all heroes wear capes” goes the lyric, and there’s something pleasing about the way the song refuses to sit neatly where you might expect it to. The sound is familiar enough to draw you in, but they’ve got their own way of doing things.
“Snake Eyes” is more expansive. There’s still that grungy feel, but it gives itself room to stretch, and it finds something different to say along the way. Prosperina never did anything quite by the book, and it seems that willingness to look beyond the obvious has carried over into this band.
“I’ll make them dance to my tune” comes the declaration on “Keyboard Warrior”, before “all hail to the keyboard warrior” is delivered with the sort of sarcasm its subject deserves. There’s a pointedness to it, but also a sense of fun. They can make their point without making the song a chore.
There’s more of a metal edge to “Lowdown”, and the guitar is perfect. It gives the record a harder bite, before “Bubble” heads towards the other extreme. This one seems to float, but it has that same mark of class. The change in feel makes sense, too. These are different sides of a band who already sound comfortable with what they’re doing.
“Chaos Engine” brings something darker to the finish. “Can’t turn off the chaos engine” comes the spoken-word warning, and the way it builds is the key. What starts as something unsettling gathers force as it goes, giving the closing track a weight that feels earned.
Night On The Sun were always likely to be an interesting band, given their pedigree. Crucially, though, this doesn’t sound like a new outfit still wet behind the ears and trying to hone its sound. The shifts between fuzz, metal, floating melody and darkness feel assured throughout.
These blokes know where they’re going. They know what they want to achieve. And with “Whateverlike”, they’ve achieved it.
Rating: 8/10
