AV Super Sunshine


A pure, exhausting amount of fun – that’s the feeling I got while listening to AV Super Sunshine’s newest track “Smile”. With psychedelic cues and a clunky bass guitar grooves, the pleasureful song is the latest in a long string of hits from one of Wisconsin’s weirdest, but coolest exports. AV Super Sunshine, presumably a duo, from Fond du Lac, WI. The band’s Facebook page states as its biography “we're gonna let the sun shine in today because we need it. The world outside is cold, but in our little sunshine place, it's warm and dry and the music is telling its truth. And that's what it is all about with me-- music and the truth.” Since 2014, AV Super Sunshine has been accruing global dance hits, and in 2015, nabbed a No. 7 spot on the US Billboard Hot Singles Sales for “Baby Goodbye”. Fans across the globe are infatuated with the trippy basslines and always positive lyrics. 


“Smile” beats to its own drum. There’s a bit of 70s science fiction waaah-waaah in the music bed that is pretty darn cool. Pressed up against the bizarre music are bright guitar riffs and a voice that sings “won’t you smile with me, a great big smile, then we all can see my baby’s smile.” The interesting thing, though, is that much of this song is dipped in 60s flavor. I heard a bit of the 90s power pop in there too, with jelly filled riffs and crooner vocals. This song makes you feel like you’re floating a bit, with visions of peace signs and lots of yellows and oranges clouding your vision. I was expecting a dance anthem and instead I got a smooth rock bop. I liked the tones – the guitar shreds a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes. I liked the mismatch of sounds and reverb. It really made “Smile” interesting. If I were to change anything, I think I would want a bit more depth in the bassline and lyrical content. I was looking for that added punch, that sound to really take it over the top. 


The music video to “Smile” is equally interesting. The setting is a deserted motel (Easy Rest-Inn) and restaurant literally in the middle of a desert (or maybe Route 66?). As the members of AV Super Sunshine immerse themselves cleverly into the scenes amongst retro mannequins. The mannequin do their thing, stuck in a permanent smile. At one point the dolls are thrown over-and-over into a pristine, underground pool. Splash! By the end the dolls are dressed and carbon copies of the band members, with the male mannequin having a wig made of long blonde hair-and-all. The scenes are a bit odd, but the coloring schemes clothing are groovy. AV Super Sunshine joins an elite group of bands from Wisconsin that have cracked the national or international music scene. The other groups include BoDeans (Waukesha), Bon Iver (Eau Claire) and Violent Femmes (Milwaukee). Fans that enjoy Jellyfish, Matthew Sweet and The Rembrandts should be taken with the musicality and mood of “Smile”.
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Trace Whittaker
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
5/2020

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