Ulfilas' Alphabet - Sundara Karma: Review

Sundara Karma

are a British indie rock band that had a handful of viral singles throughout 2015 and into 2016, but stuck in label limbo the group wasn't able to release its debut album Youth Is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect in January of 2017 to moderate critical acclaim and not much commercial success. 

Review By Lavender:

I was one of the people very excited for Sundara Karma after some of their early singles grabbed my attention, but even on some of their earliest EPs their failure to hit with consistency showed. After taking way too long to release a debut and losing the hype train they had built for themselves it made almost no splash in the music world, but now two years later it seems like the only thing Sundara Karma have learned is how to drown in their contemporaries sounds.

Unfortunately this time around whatever sound Sundara Karma were going for have basically devolved into a mixed bag of watered down versions of some more successful indie pop bands. They go after the sounds of Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend and The Smiths in tracks like Rainbow Body, The Changeover and A Song For My Future Self respectively, but they don't manage to do any of the sounds justice. The album also closes on a horrible U2 rip off with Home, but for some reason they appear to be trying to rip off recent era U2 that have been critically panned across the board and nobody seems to like, which makes it even worse when Sundaram Karma takes it on.

All too often this album devolves into samey post-1975 British pop rock tracks that refuse to take a single risk or stand out in any way. Greenhands, Duller Days and Little Smart Houses all fall comfortably under this category. Illusion, the albums lead single is one of its hardest flops as it calls back to the soft radio rock of the early 2000's in one of the worst ways with a song that is nauseatingly saccharine.

Even when the album does something right it rarely puts it all together into a cohesive track. Both Symbols Of Joy & Eternity and Sweet Intentions are tracks that have some good instrumentals but completely crumble with horrible faux political lyrics and completely uninspired singing that make them impossible to enjoy. One Last Night On This Earth is a song that swings for saying something big but misses hard, the track has as good a first half as any on the album but when they try to really bring it home the songs flops completely. 

The two tracks I enjoyed fully on this album aren't even songs that I consider that good, but they probably are worth hearing. Higher States pulls huge inspiration from Bloc Party and doesn't squander the sound, it's a groovy and energetic tune that has a pretty sharp build and was the only single that I really enjoyed of the many they released leading up to this project. And finally the title track Ulfias' Alphabet is one of the only truly genuine emotional pieces that isn't completely ruined by the overproduction that plagues this project and it should have absolutely been the albums closer, but that is just one in a line of many mistakes the band makes throughout this process. 

In closing this is one of the most non-essential albums I've heard all year, nearly every other popular band in the world of British pop and indie rock are delivering better or at least more unique tunes with every release. I have a feeling I won't be reviewing any more Sundara Karma records after this one, if there ever even are anymore. 2/10

For more indie pop check out my review of Hozier's Wasteland, Baby here.