Sunset Radio
Youth Roots

On the topic of covering a song, I believe long debates could be opened regarding the actual need for the audience to deal with versions - often and willingly - similar or totally off track compared to the original. Personally, I remain of the opinion that this trend of getting to work on a remake is simply a waste of time, unless we are talking about true artistic projects like in the case of Me First And The Gimme Gimmes where covers are the essence of the group itself. But anyway, it's a personal opinion. So when I had the chance to listen to "Youth Roots" by Sunset Radio, I immediately asked myself, why?! They are a band that I consider among the most inspired and valid for years in the national pop-punk-rock scene, with a number of releases (especially singles) that could make many envious, what sense does it make to release an EP of this kind? According to the online statements, it seems that the intention was to retrace the actions of artists who influenced the birth and growth of the Sunset project, something I could even consider valid mainly, if it weren't for the fact that while on one hand, the style of the Ravenna group can be perceived within the tracks, on the other hand, we can say that there's very little "risky/personal" in terms of interpretation here. The choice to include guests in every song is nice (Vanilla Sky, Melody Fall, Beerbong, and others), a respectable tracklist featuring famous hits by The Ataris, Yellowcard, Lagwagon, NoFx, Blink 182, and No Use For A Name, as well as the graphic concept, and nothing to complain about production and "packaging" of the product itself, always at high standard levels... Generally speaking, for a band like theirs, wrapping up this EP was a piece of cake and surely, the band's listeners will greatly appreciate the final result... But my question, in the end, always remains the same my dear Sunset Radio: Why?!