Independent's Day Radio

Singer/songwriter Ray Argyle and his band, Sunken Ships, have a sort of musical identity crisis. They bill themselves as playing "a darker shade of folk," but it's their disparate influences that wrest for prominence in their sound. Sunken Ships flirts with organic Americana elements - the standard-issue acoustic guitars are here, but there is something else churning just under the surface. The band draws inspiration from folky Brit bands, dark pop and mopey folk and it all has a sheen of sweet musical frosting on top to keep their songs from getting too macabre. All in all, it just works.