By now, of course, you should have guessed that Neanderthal is an album that I quite enjoyed. Sure, it’s hard to tell when all you have to go on is my enthusiastic cheerleading and yelps of “THIS RULES!” throughout the paragraphs above, but I assure you that it is quite true. I really loved this record.

Unfortunately, even if I played it back to back to back and so forth, the fact still remained that I’ve only gotten to experience eight songs in Sunspot’s repertoire. This wouldn’t do at all, of course. No, I told myself as I paced back and forth before my stereo, I must have more…

And then it hit me, why not simply ask for more?

One week later, after my cunningly deployed plan of emailing Mike Huberty and politely asking (i.e. begging) for a chance to listen to more of Sunspot’s music, there arrived a package on my doorstep that contained all three of their previous albums.

While I’m not going to try and break the world record for “Longest Article/Articulate Babble” by a Blogcritic writer, I do want to tell you about them. While Neanderthal is a wonderful album, you see, it’s not something that just popped into existence all on its own.

Each one of the albums that came before it show the genesis of wit and musicianship that makes up the building blocks of their latest release. Whether it is the chunky earnestness of Cynical’s “Scott Bakula” lamenting that it was simply impossible to be as wonderful and caring as Bakula in his glory days of Quantum Leap, the folly of attempting to prescribe teenage happiness through medications in Loser of the Year’s “Prozac Girl” (also featured in an earlier incarnation on their debut album, Radio Free Earth), the lovely despair that regretfully rides the melody of Radio Free Earth’s “Defeated,” or the swirling loveliness that is Loser of the Year’s title track — it all points to one thing.

Sunspot is no blinding flash-in-the-pan that has managed to catch lightning in a bottle and record a wonderful album. Instead, they are a wonderfully talented band that has worked over the past ten years to hone their craft as well as give themselves time to grow and become the band that they are today.

It’s a shame that more bands don’t get the chance (or time) to grow and mature into their talents, as has Sunspot. It would be an even bigger shame, though, if it managed to happen and nobody was there to applaud.

I’m here, though, clutching my copies of their albums and eagerly awaiting any new release that Sunspot may put out. Hopefully, those of you brave enough to tolerate my usual chaotic and rambling style of writing, can see through my clumsy words and get a sense of my genuine admiration for this band.

A band that I might otherwise have never heard of, had I not pulled my head out of my cave and simply allowed myself to listen.