Sunflower Bean: Headful of Sugar

At no level do Sunflower Bean sound out of their depth; in the event that they adjusted their coordinates to incorporate a Dan Nigro cowrite or talky post-punk, they’d in all probability pull that off too. The hooks, the flashy guitar solos, the profanity that can function the pull quote in any blurb: Headful of Sugar labored very arduous to sound easy. However coolness is a zero-sum recreation on a report that, like Twentytwo in Blue, aspires to have One thing to Say about The Manner We Reside. Headful of Sugar launders Cumming and guitarist/vocalist Nick Kivlen’s experiences as “outsiders disillusioned within the fashionable world,” by means of “the lived expertise of late capitalism”—issues which might be a lot harder to discern within the music in case you haven’t learn the press supplies first.

I can say that “Roll the Cube” efficiently pulls off its try and wring a pop tune from the GameStop stock-manipulation fiasco as a result of its nagging hook (“I simply wanna win, win, win, win, win!”) will virtually actually seem within the trailer when Hulu or Netflix buys the rights to the docudrama. However very similar to the current wave of scammer-core restricted collection, Sunflower Bean recuse themselves of rendering any type of judgment or opinion past “I really feel unhealthy for our nation. However that is great content material.” The breakup songs know precisely what responses they hope to set off—“empowerment bop!” “epic clapback!”—although the performances render them emotionally inert. As an alternative, “Who Put You As much as This?” and “Stand By Me” resemble the interstitial music of Promoting Sundown, its lyrics ruthlessly engineered to decorate another person’s blow-up or glow-up slightly than set a scene itself.

At no level does Headful of Sugar come off as cynical, although the central premise falls aside underneath the slightest little bit of scrutiny: This can be a largely beloved, well-connected, and unabashedly accessible rock band attempting to be convincing because the voice of outcasts obeying their most reckless impulses. Studio perfectionism and social debauchery have lengthy confirmed to be suitable, however the dissonance between the drunkalog of “I Don’t Have Management Generally” and its rigorously market-tested KROQ-core bounce is simply too apparent to be unintentional. Moreover, alienation is within the eye of the beholder, and Sunflower Bean write about their particular expertise candidly on “In Flight.” Reflecting on a uncommon occasion of downtime from touring and disconnection together with his Lengthy Island roots, Kivlen sings, “Nothing adjustments on this city/The individuals die or they transfer out,” including a despairing punchline: “Everybody however me.” It’s the height of Headful of Sugar, not as a result of it’s the strongest hook or tightest concord. It’s probably the most convincing occasion of Sunflower Bean writing from the guts. They put on it effectively.