Single Review / Video Premiere / Album Teaser
European Sun
When Britain Was Great
Skep Wax
Single – out today, 10 November 2025.
Forthcoming album out on Skep Wax Records 23 January 2026
European Sun released their eponymous debut in 2021 and January next year sees the release of their quite brilliant second album – which has the same title as this single. When Britain Was Great. A song which eviscerates nostalgia for an imagined past where men were men, and racism was de rigueur. The video superbly illustrates the song, and is the antidote to phoney, flag-waving AI nostalgia for an age that didn’t exist, says Ged Babey.
It was only recently that I found out why Great Britain was called ‘Great’: it was to distinguish it, geographically from the smaller of the British Isles, Ireland – and from the French province of Brittany (the ‘Little’ Britain’s). It’s fuck-all to do with being fabulous and superior – it’s just larger on a map.
…….
The pre-C86 Indie era of ‘jangly guitar bands’ was arguably the most-political of all the post-punk scenes in that it genuinely did ‘seize the means of production’ with the myriad of D-I-Y labels and fanzines, yet it was dismissed as ‘shambling’ until the Smiths and Creation came along…
Steve Miles is a veteran of those far off days, as is his school-friend Rob Pursey (Talulah Gosh, Heavenly…. Skep Wax). Ian Button provides the drums and Steve’s daughter Elin Miles ‘additional vocals’, but European Sun is basically the vehicle for Steve’s songs – and in turn, they are the story of his life, his beliefs, observations and reflections.
When Britain was Great – the single/song is pretty self-explanatory. It’s a wryly sarcastic and personal look back at Britain in the late 60’s/early 70’s when he was a child and young teen. Anyone from the same age-group will recognise the monochrome grimness and griminess of the times and the rubbish television with it’s ingrained racism and sexism. Then there was the indoctrination of ‘Scouting For Boys’ and the enforced division of the 11-Plus… a not-so-Golden Age… and there are people intent on dragging us back there. So this is for them.
So, do we really want to go back to those ‘good old days? The Moors Murderers, The Yorkshire Ripper, Fred and Rose West, the Birmingham 6, Jimmy Saville, corporal punishment… three TV channels… knowing your place… anyone who is ‘different’ mocked and abused…
The music is a refutation of ‘masculine energy’ too: it is utterly devoid of that grim modern male quality ‘swagger’. Sometimes echoing the casual, intimate, fragile tones of the TV Personalities, the songs are bluntly emotional but shamelessly catchy. The warmth and gentleness of the vocal might remind you of Jonathan Richman. The experimentation reminiscent of the earliest, fearless phase of punk adventurism… Punk before it regressed to Rock. This hand-made music is the opposite of AI-generated crud. Every bit of it meticulously thought through.
If one LP could act as a refutation of the toxic culture of ‘masculine energy’ and the tech bro-sponsored whipping up of hatred that blights our lives – this is it.
‘When Britain Was Great’ is a punk record. It is also an angry, gentle, heartfelt plea for humanity.
It’s an album that speaks volumes in a quiet voice. it’s the ultimate in personal as political music. It will make you laugh and cry and in essence make 99% of other artists seem like fakes because it has a honesty and openness that very few artists have.
The tracklist will give you vital clues to the content.
1 Choice Paralysis
2 Going Viral
3 Dad
4 The Angels In The Clouds
5 in Bedford Falls
6 The Space She Left
7 Falling Down The Stairs With Arthur Seaton
8 The Sea Is A Pirate’s Best Friend
9 Edward Colston’s Likeness
10 When Britain Was Great
11 Their Ncuti Gatwa Poster
12 When I Have Fears
13 School Report
EUROPEAN SUN release second album ‘When Britain Was Great’ on Skep Wax Records on 23 January 2026
Skepwax Bandcamp – the single
Bandcamp -the back catalogue
UK TOUR DATES (2026)
5 Feb: BRISTOL Thunderbolt
6 Feb: OXFORD Library
7 Feb: LONDON Betsey Trotwood (matinee)
8 Feb: BRIGHTON The Albert (matinee)
Steve Miles writes an occasional guest column for PennyBlack Music, in which he discusses common themes across a wide range of music, and explores links between music and mental health in its widest sense, called In Dreams Begin Responsibilities. His column has included long-form in-depth interviews with the likes of Jah Wobble, Wreckless Eric, Tom Robinson, and Peter Perrett.
All words Ged Babey with press release content in italics.
Bonus Feature
By sheer coincidence, another song from an unrelated artist, also a flagship single from an album coming out in January, on a very similar theme, but from a different angle, is this – The Colonial Club – by Dan O’Farrell and the Difference Engine – who I wrote about here:
Buy from Bandcamp
‘The Fish That Learned To Drown’ –is released on 22 January 2026 on Gare Du Nord Records. And is very much a ‘sibling’ album to ‘When Britain Was Great’. Full reviews of both to come in early 2026.
(GB for LTW)
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