Sundara Karma have become one of the UK’s biggest breakthrough act of the past year and their debut album, Youth Is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect, is one of the most highly-anticipated albums. Over the past few years, the boys from Reading have undoubtedly managed to break their way out of their hometown and have gone onto conquer the UK indie scene. And if their debut album is anything to go by, it is very clear that Sundara Karma are only just getting started. A combination of classic indie pop, with aspects of both the psychedelic and a distinctive, yet unexplainable, 70s vibe are all present themes which make up the story behind this album.

Any past fan will instantly realise that a large number of tracks used in the album’s list do come from the band’s past EP releases. Whilst this does mean that some of the material may be repetitive to long time followers, for new fans, the list dominantly features some of the band’s biggest songs that have put them on the map. From the offset, we are greeted with ‘A Young Understanding’, just one of the many which reflects the album title, but immediately the listener’s attention is grabbed through the overwhelming wave of heavy bass, pounding drums and delicate lead riff. As expected there is a large emphasis on foolish youth shenanigans and teenage mishaps, which when combined with the catchy chorus, form an incredibly accessible track that many will relate with and be singing along to by the end.

The catchy nature of Sundara’s material is omnipresent and has become one of their key characteristics. After just one or two listens, it is incredibly easy to pick up the bulk of the album’s lyrics, numbers such as ‘Loveblood', ‘Vivienne’ and ‘Lose The Feeling’ are just a few which contain this engaging, catchy spark that leaves you wanting to listen to each track over and over again.

Despite this, the album contains an incredible variety of musical stylings which, whilst contrasting with one another, work seamlessly to produce an incredibly satisfying listen from start to finish. Vocalist Oscar Lulu’s husky yet delicate vocals hold a raw emotion which is only emphasised by the backing instrumentation and symphonic harmonisation in tracks such as ‘Be Nobody’.

A fair few tracks do stick to a fairly typical upbeat indie rock structure, however others such as ‘Happy Family’ throw the album in an entirely different direction than expected. The track’s emphasis on more delicate guitar and echoed vocals is unlike anything Sundara have released before, introducing a far more psychedelic-folk style to the band and, as a distorted bass kicks in and the pacing increases, by the time we are greeted with the cataclysmic chorus, I’m reminded once more that this is the reason I fell in love with this band.

Every album has that one song which defines it, whether that be for the good or bad, for Youth Is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect, this number undoubtedly comes in the form of ‘Flame’. The track which has made Sundara Karma one of the ‘hottest’ (pun not intended) bands of the past year. The initial guitar riff already possesses enough of a hook to make for one of the best releases of 2016 but as the vocals kick in, Oscar’s tones send shivers down the spine. But wait, there’s more. As the chorus approaches and the instrumentation drops, the song enters its prime. The simple repetition of the chorus’ two lines was made to be played in front of thousands and as the rest of the band restart, you can imagine entire festivals jumping along to this track. Each verse too creates some extraordinary imagery and gives a nice insight into the writing skills Sundara have, but before you’re done over analysing, you’re greeted with yet another wave of that fantastic chorus! Making for a phenomenal listen.

The themes of retrospect in this album are both blatantly obvious (it’s in the title?!) but musically, a more subtle reflection is present. As we progress through the album, the fast-paced blur from the opening numbers gradually begins to fade and, as the latter half of the album comes to its conclusion with the aptly named ‘The Night’, it is clear that the second half of the album is a reminiscing sentiment on the album’s initial optimistic outlook on youth.

British indie rock has been in dire need of a band with enough of a unique presence to restore faith in its ‘individuality’, I would argue that Sundara Karma have the potential to be that band. As a debut full length release,Youth Is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect is phenomenal and has very much laid the foundations to propel the Sundara boys into superstardom. Each track adds its own unique flavours to the album which when applied together create a satisfying, holistic listen from cover to cover. Older fans may argue that it stresses too much on the band’s older releases, but I would argue that the songs chosen, not only offer new listeners a fantastic introduction to what Sundara Karma are all about, but they also fit the album’s imagery perfectly and to not include them would only deter from the album’s character. Whatever Sundara Karma are doing, it is certainly working, every single release this band has made over their rising has been consistently impressive and only generates further excitement as to what they can conjure up next! Youth Is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect is no exception to this and I for one cannot wait to see what more the Sundara Karma boys still have to offer and the inevitable heights that their debut album will take them to.
Ben Walker

Website: sundara-karma.co.uk
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