The cover of Richard and Linda Thompson’s 1979 Sunnyvista features a Technicolor family looking positively ecstatic as they stand in front of a completely drab and gray development. And the material on the record follows the image – Sunnyvista is a collection of mostly upbeat-sounding, uptempo songs that deal with some pretty heavy subject matter. Opener “Civilisation” presents xenophobia and suburban ennui with a kind of gleeful ambivalence that almost could pass for Devo, if Devo played accordions instead of synths. Meanwhile, the title track presents the luxury of leisure time afforded by post-industrial innovation and automation, and the proliferation of prefabricated homes in planned communities that provide places for kids to play safely, adults to socialize freely, and the aged to die gracefully – and it sounds terrifying. Of the couple of devotional offerings on here, “You’re Going To Need Somebody” stands out as an incredibly catchy recital of faith. And the politically charged funk of “Justice In The Streets” features a singalong refrain of “Allah, Allah, Allah” to buoy lyrics like, “They fooled you for so long/ You can’t tell right from wrong/ They are weak and you are strong/ There’s justice in the streets.” Abetted by some serious talent – vocals by the McGarrigle sisters and Glenn Tillbrook, and a lot of excellent accordion playing by John Kirkpatrick – the principals have a lot of the makings of a great record here, but there are too many genre experiments, and the result is something merely very good but definitely very interesting.