The Sunnyboys’ debut album had catapulted the band into Australian popular musical consciousness. 1982 saw the release of The Sunnyboys’ second album, Individuals. Like the band’s first album, Individuals was produced and mixed by Lobby Loyde. This time around, the record company was keen to create a hit international record; as a consequence, Individuals suffered from ‘80s production-itis, Loyde’s embrace of plastic LA production values hiding the quality of Oxley’s new batch of songs.
With the exception of the title track and This Is Real (the first single taken from the album), we now get to hear the original mixes of the tracks. The passage of time has treated Individuals well: there’s a complex pop sensibility in the title track and It’s A Sunny Day; Leaf On A Tree is bristling with the pop whimsy of Ray Davies. You Need A Friend is a lost classic crying out for revisionist celebration, No Love Around is the surf rock love child of The Hitmen and Colour of Love is where Radio Birdman might’ve found themselves had they not imploded under the weight of competing egos a couple of years before The Sunnyboys burst onto the scene.
The re-releases of Individuals and Get Some Fun both come with bonus material, including live tracks recorded for triple j’s Rockarama and five songs from The Sunnyboys’ set at the rain-soaked 1984 Narara festival in regional New South Wales, as well as the original 7” releases of Show Me Some Discipline and a live recording of the last song the band ever wrote, Strange Cohesion. The Sunnyboys were, and remain, one of Australia’s greatest ever power pop bands.
BY PATRICK EMERY
