#14

Oh man, that’s just awful. I had no idea he was so ill. Absolutely gutted by this.

Managed to see them on their last run of shows a few years back. Was woefully under attended but they were fantastic.

He was such a talented songwriter, a real master of the 3 minute power pop song and they had some absolute gold in the back catalogue.

RIP James

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#15

Another great one

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#16

Tune! They had amazing B-sides as well. In Nature, Angel Eyes etc.

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#17

They were mostly remembered for the first 2 albums but all of them were stuffed with pop bangers. There’s not many other writers for me that could consistently put a smile on your face with the sheer unabashed fun of the songs which is a great legacy to have. As mentioned the b-sides / are worth checking out and also recommend the demo album he did under The Bullets moniker.

This is one of my favourites from Disappear here.

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#18

Yep, and then on the next album you got this. He never stopped being a pop genius.

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#19

:frowning: really sad. That first album still brings back a lot of teenage summer feelings.

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#20

These were nice words, I think. The last line has some good life advice that everyone should act upon.

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#21

This is really sad :-(. I never knew they were so popular so its heart-warming to see this thread. Got a bunch of the singles on 7" i’m going to have to dig out later. Great little pop hits.

#22

Fans, fans everywhere.

I wrote a nice reply to a tweet from Nigel Godrich… and it was “liked” by Edgar Wright.

tl;dr: you’re right.

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#23

(that was in reply to @Caedus)

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#24

Terrible news.

I’d put Last Day and Golden Skin up as absolute essentials on any sunny day playlist.

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#25

First heard ‘Lava’ on one of the Shine comps and consequently obsessed over it. That first album will always take me back to school summer hols (that and Champ Man 97), but they/he were remarkably consistent and the rest of the discography shouldn’t be overlooked. Missed them live in the 90s, but grateful I got to see them in 07 and 17.

Had no idea he’d been so ill, so really shocked to hear the news of his passing.

RIP James and thank you for all of the brilliant music!

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#26

Remember listening to Golden Skin when I was about 10, and thinking it was awesome. Was properly obsessed with that and Mrs Hoover by the Candyskins. Poor guy :frowning:

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#27

Went to see them in Leeds at The Cockpit in Oct 1998, fantastically fun gig but I remember it being insanely hot, condensation from the arched roof dripping on everyone’s heads. I only know their first two albums and didn’t really follow anything they did after Neowave.

Weirdly I posted the ticket on Instagram about a week before the news came that he’d died, having not really given them much thought in years.

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#28

The first two albums are the peak, mainly because those are the only ones recorded as a full band (although the other band members play on the fourth and bits of the sixth). But the other four are all great too.

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#29

I only just saw this thread and found out this news. This super mega ultra sucks.

Especially in the context that Silver Sun, really should have been HUGE.

Talk about a band coming straight out of the gates. The first song on their first EP

Then: Lava, Last Day, Golden Skin, Julia (one of the best run of singles by any band). The whole debut was amazing. He really should have done a ‘yer man from New Radicals’ and wrote songs for other people. But that’s all well and good to say in hindsight.

RIP. Genuinely shocked and saddened by this news.

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#30

The record label actually asked him to do that (write songs for other people) but as I recall he didn’t feel he could properly write songs in other people’s styles when he tried…

#31

Makes sense, I guess. Also, Silver Sun lyrics are kind of unique to them, I guess. Nobody was writing lyrics like them at the time, and I guess lyrics like “sitting on the toilet, waiting to come” and “I’m as still as a shy sheep” might not cross over

Looking back at the lyrics to Lava, which I definitely did not understand the first few times I heard, it’s bonkers that a song with those lyrics match up with such a pop banger.

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#32

I’m not sure they ever bettered that EP. Fully formed right from the off, weren’t they? I was working in HMV in Portsmouth when it came out, and there were about three or four of us who were all really into it. Still have mine, the original version when they were just called Sun. Probably worth at least 50p on Discogs.

#33

I saw them just a few days later!

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