The multinational Sunny Day Sets Fire are one of those bands who've been around for far longer than this being their first album would suggest - in fact, 2006 debut single 'Brainless', which isn't here, briefly saw them pegged as a British based, less populated Polyphonic Spree. Maybe not so much now, but their aim would seem to be in the same ballpark of summery, joyous romantic pop melodies, acoustic guitars and glockenspiel high in priority. Not exactly unmarked territory then, but done right such an approach can transcend most surroundings.It's just a shame that Summer Palace doesn't come close to managing that. For much of the album they seem content to jangle away like a lesser Little Ones or a startup college band taking The Shins as main inspiration. They never manage the anthemic status the hooks demand, almost seeming too timid to take that extra chance and make the instrumental arrangements stand out and be more memorable in a field that's already well subscribed. 'Stranger' attempts to resolve this with a spiralling coda and just ends up wearing out its welcome by a good minute and a half. Several tracks - 'Teenagers Talking', 'I Dream Alone', 'All Our Songs' - have a clearer motive, attempting to bridge the gap between the continental skyscraping ambition of a less out-there Mew (particularly the second named, with its insistent pushing and Mauro Remiddi going falsetto for the chorus) and the likes of Phantom Planet's readiness for US teen drama soundtracking. But it ends up being neither one thing nor the other. 'All Our Songs' in particular, which features a plucked acoustic guitar line oddly reminiscent of Led Zeppelin in folk mode before reverting into the kind of chugging build we've heard far too many times before, without injecting a sense of occasion or standout resolution.Right in the middle of the album 'Siamese', featuring female drummer Onyee on airy vocals, prominently features a hazy piano line undercut by gauzy reverb guitars. It's all the better for this change of approach and completely at odds with its surroundings because afterwards it's straight back into the underwhelming radio aimed sunshine pop as if nothing had happened. Her other lead vocal, 'Adrenaline', merely sounds like 1984 bubblegum synthpop with the more interesting synth sounds toned down.It's frustrating because you can see what the band are trying to pull off here, and a British based band achieving an approach that recalls, say, the adventure and outward pushing range of a New Pornographers or the wall of psych-pop sound synthesis of an Apples In Stereo would be very welcome. As it is, Sunny Day Sets Fire don't express the courage of their acoustic-led pure-ish pop convictions and with far too few attempts to challenge themselves end up falling flat. 51%Sunny Day Sets Fire on Myspace