Sunshine Boys - Work And Love

Note: Sunshine Boys lead vocalist-guitarist Dag Juhlin has a solo gig at the Hey Nonny venue in Arlington Heights at 7:30 PM tonight.

Considering the momentum Sunshine Boys built with their 2018 debut Blue Music, it’s good to see them quickly return with another album. The Chicago-based trio once again employs a well-crafted pop music sensibility on Work And Love, whether evoking sentimental memories, issuing a call to action, or telling us to hang in there. The three musicians have been around—Dag Juhlin with The Slugs and Poi Dog Pondering; Jackie Schimmel with Big Hello; and Freda Love Smith with The Blake Babies. Juhlin does all the lead singing, while Schimmel and Smith create lush backup vocals that occasionally recall the 1960s.

“Infinity Girl” is a guitar-driven celebration of youth and female empowerment, with lines such as, “We’re weighted down by clowns from old days/She’s built a bonfire of our old ways.” Sunshine Boys take aim at the endless hype of our political scene with the hard-edged “The Serpent In Spring,” noting “Here’s the distraction/There is the lie.” The rallying cry of “Don’t Keep It Inside” is tempered with optimism as Juhlin notes, “The good that you can see/Is the good that you can be.”

Poetic imagery emerges throughout Work And Love, particularly on the mid-tempo “Every Step” and the self-depricating but tender love song “A Ghost, At Best.” Those tracks, along with “Right Where You Need It,” feature guest musicians Susan Voelz and Anna Steinhoff on violin and cello respectively. The shimmering “Summertime Kids” works on one level as a nostalgic Beach Boys type reflection, but also laments the loss of independence as we grow older.