Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on May 2010

Budding of Music

Brevity is the soul of wit, and there’s plenty of dry humor falling from the lips of frontman Alastair Rogers on Sunset Drive’s new EP, We’ve Got To Talk. The EP format is often long enough for a rock band to get the point across, which the Tokyo-based trio does in acerbic lines like “Broken bottles at your feet/Deadlines you will never meet” off the track “Carry Me.” Rogers sings in a pleasant drawl about the adversities met in relationships, punctuated by boozy, Stones-y guitar solos from able axe-man Tosh. One song, “Kimini Aini Kitanowa,” is oriented toward the domestic market, but elsewhere Sunset Drive wisely points its compass abroad. Currently in the UK for a series of festival dates, the band returns to wrap up its “Black Bags and Red Lines” tour at The Ruby Room on June 12.

Sunset Drive
Tokyo-based rock trio return from their UK tour. June 12, time/price TBA. The Ruby Room, Shibuya. Tel: 03-3780-3022.