Sun - S.U.N. 1980 Germany

Sun are a band from southwest Germany near Mannheim, who had a heritage going back to the mid 60s. In 1974, they managed to record two excellent lengthy tracks for the Proton 1 compilation put together by Kerston Records, and then disappeared again. Until 1980, when they finally released this one very private album, where no money was left for artwork, and that was hand glued together by the band themselves. Maybe not the most economically successful of German bands at that time, but musically speaking they were quite rich. In summary, it's ostensibly a jazz rock record, but with plenty of progressive and Krautrock elements.

The album opens up with the fiery 'Ohne Titte' (ouch), and we get to hear the fantastic lead guitar of Gunter Hubner. 'The Jester' is the most progressive oriented track, and the vocals - and overall style - recall that of Van der Graaf Generator. The next two 'Seeing Similaun' and 'On Holiday' are of the late 70s Kraut Fusion variety, and comparisons to Release Music Orchestra would not be out of place here. Further on, 'Neulich in Spanien' reminds me some of the Sunbirds when they too seemingly headed south to Spain for the winter. The final track 'Women's Lib Blues' (that's getting right to the matter isn't it?) is the only one here that recalls their Proton 1 days and I was reminded of early Nine Days Wonder as well. Overall a varied, but very satisfying album for fans of German underground jazz and rock.

The CD is the recommended way to go here, as in addition to the LP, one will receive no less than 6 bonus tracks, all essential. The first 2 are the aforementioned Proton 1 tracks (and which I reviewed on that entry). The next two come from the late 70s, where apparently the band has numerous tapes - mostly in tattered condition if I understand correctly - that was clearly a creative time for the band. And the last 2 are 1994 reworkings of earlier 70s tracks, and despite the late date, sound fresh as ever. One wishes they had gone on to record a full album at this time. Remarkably the band is still playing live as I pen this in late 2018. It would be wonderful to hear more archival material from this group - or perhaps even a new album!

Personal collection
CD: 2008 Garden of Delights

The original album - and this CD - are titled S.U.N., and yet it doesn't appear to be an acronym of any kind.