he ancient Egyptians believed in many gods, foremost among them Ra, the ruler of all other supreme beings, and custodian of the sun. The sun itself was worshipped and regarded as a supernatural force, and all temples contained a shrine to the sun, Ra, or both.


I'm no scholar on Egyptian history, however, so I really have no idea what sort of music was utilized in ceremonies and rituals, but whatever that spirit of awe and adoration was, The Sunshine Fix have surely tapped into it.


Age Of The Sun is the debut album from The Sunshine Fix, the brainchild of Bill Doss, formerly of the Olivia Tremor Control, masters of the slightly unhinged psych-pop song in the 90s.


After OTC unfortunately imploded a year or two back, leader Will Cullen Hart formed the more cerebral-minded Circulatory System. Doss went off to spawn The Sunshine Fix, keeping true to OTC's love of garage psychedelia and immaculate hooks, but minus the schizophrenic noodling and sound collages.


Many hallmarks of a classic OTC album are contained within Age Of The Sun; sing-song melodies and gloriously off-kilter Beach Boys harmonies, punchy organ swells and fuzz guitar outbursts, drumming that seems martial and playful at once, and a druggy sense of lacadasial wonderment than underpins the whole affair.


With Age Of The Sun, much of that wonderment is directed at one target. Yep, you guessed it - the sun. It's in the name of both the band and album, the titles and lyrics of nearly every cut off the record, and spheres, sundials and the fiery ball of gas itself adorn the album's artwork.


While this may seem like a cunning attempt at a concept album, Doss doesn't have the lyrical ability to keep it fresh throughout the album's duration, and the clever sun puns get rather cold about halfway through Age Of The Sun. Too much sun can be detrimental to your health, you know. "Everything in moderation" is a motto that Doss would do well to learn and follow.


And where does that leave him and his bandmates for a sophomore album? Switch their name to 'The Moonshine Fix?' (It might provide an interesting cover of "Moondance" or "Blue Moon," if nothing else.)


Doss' lyrical and thematic missteps aside, Age Of The Sun is a delightful effort, certainly not spectacular by anyone's standards (particularly OTC's), but it can be an enjoyable funhouse of quirky twists, turns and indelible hooks.


The phased, echoed vocal that kicks off the album in "Age Of The Sun" thrusts you into the outer limits as a watery guitar warbles around your headspace, slowly giving way to a more earthy electric guitar, terse drums and spot-on vocal harmonies extolling the virtues of that big ball of gas in the sky.


Flowing into the slight instrumental passage, "Ultraviolet Orchestra," Age Of The Sun really kicks into high gear with "That Ole Sun," an irresistible slice of fizzy sonic perfection that builds from an aimless bit of jamming into a sunny-side-up ode to optimism that's sure to bring a smile to your face. "Everyone says the world can be too much, and sometimes I agree...but then I awake to find that 'ole sun's come up anyway," Doss informs us as his eclectic band molds a fantastic pastoral pop song behind him. "That Ole Sun" beats the Apples (In Stereo) at their own game.


"Everything Is Waking" switches gears for a little bit; still every bit as memorable, but following a more sedate path, as an almost dreary guitar overcasts the sky in muted gray.


"A Better Way To Be" continues in that vein, as the vocal harmonies become less transcendent, and more mournful, also introducing a horn section that bleats away an ode to a brighter day.


The Sunshine Fix never loses sight of their original intent, however, and the main goal of this album is pleasant melodies. "Digging To China" is excellent in this regard, with it's 70's AM rock piano/guitar juxtaposition and jubilant lyrics.


"See Yourself," however, takes this to the extreme, kicking off with a just plain goofy synthesizer noise, and devolving into a truly annoying vocal line with cheesy handclaps. Throw in a truly forced chorus, and you've got one of the album's two real stinkers (we'll get to the next later).


The album winds down with a few wispy ballads, including "72 Years" and the superior "Sail Beyond The Sunset," while lacking in lyrical substance, sports a nice framework.


Age Of The Sun would have ended nicely enough with the short vignette "Cycles Of Time," but instead, Mr. Doss has decided to unleash one of the most unholy beasts ever heard by human ears. The album's closer, "Le Roi-Soleil," is twenty minutes long, and consists solely of the word "sun." Not "sun" repeated over and over, but one utterance of it, with the middle looped and stretched to the twenty-minute mark. Pointless and annoying to the point of pain.


If Doss could have just held his imagination in check a tad, Age Of The Sun could have been a spectacular album. As it stands, it's an enjoyable footnote to any Olivia Tremor Control fan's collection. But if you're a newbie to them, I strongly suggest picking up either Black Foliage or their debut, Dusk At Cubist Castle (hell, even the Circulatory System) before venturing into The Sunshine Fix's world.