One of my favorite bands in Chicago has to be Beach Bunny. I had fallen in love with a song called “Adulting” a few years ago from their fourth EP “Prom Queen”. I, like many other Gen Z individuals, discovered them through Tik Tok after one of their songs blew up and I’m glad that I did. I have been a huge fan of theirs for a few years now and I probably have 2-3 of their songs on each of my spotify playlists.
I remember in February of 2020 (just before all hell broke loose), I went to an intimate release concert at Reckless Records in Wicker Park for their debut album “Honeymoon”. I remember it distinctly because it was on Valentine’s Day, it was absolutely freezing outside, and how Lili Trifilio (the frontwoman of the band) noticed that my friends and I were dancing when everyone else in the store was just swaying and nodding their heads. She said that she “loved our energy.” Of course, we freaked out about this after we left and we all fawned over our signed posters and merchendise. It was an amazing experience not just because of this little moment, but because of the way that their music makes people feel and how much it affected my friends and I. It made us feel real and normal and seen all at the same time.
In the four songs that have been released ahead of their new album “Emotional Creature” so far, they continue to capture these feelings perfectly. A common theme in Beach Bunny’s music is heartbreak, confusion, relationships, and trying to navigate through all of them. The band has given the album a “space-y” theme, with song names alluding to outer space as well as art, clips, and promotion for the album being related to aliens, foreign planets, and secret missions across the galaxy. This aesthetic seems perfect for the messages they seem to be trying to convey through their songs. The “Final Frontier” is a fantastic setting for the story they are going to tell about new relationships, navigating obstacles, and discovering unknown emotions.
The first song that they released is called “Oxygen” and expresses the tragic realization that you have been metamorphically holding your breath for so long because someone has come into your life and has reminded you that you can breathe. It is definitely one of their more uplifting and freeing songs (they have often been described as a “sad-girl band” by the internet) and adds a breath of fresh air to their discography (pun intended). I attended a concert of theirs at the Riviera this past December, a month or so after the song released, and it was a fantastic track to hear live. It was nice to see everyone burst out screaming when Lili announced that they would play one of their new songs. They have come a long way since I first started listening to them during my freshman year.
The next track released introduced the world to a new sound that we had never really heard from Beach Bunny before. In “Fire Escape”, we are exposed to more power and complexity than we have been by their previous music. The song evokes feelings of comfort and trying to care for the one you love when they are struggling to care for themselves.
I was surprised (and extremely joyful) when I got the notification that they had, in fact, released a third single from “Emotional Creature” called “Karaoke”. This track has slowly grown on me and has actually become one of my favorites from their recent releases. It is tamer and a bit more reserved than the other singles, but the lyrics are nothing short of emotional and thought provoking. Beach Bunny has shown us time and time again that any sound can portray emotion, that a song can display a multitude of feelings all at the same time. Music is meant to bring out the emotion inside of us all and I believe that this is the greatest strength of this band (besides incredible beats and some of the catchiest guitar riffs I have ever heard).
That brings us to today (writing this on 6/14/22), when I opened spotify to see that A FOURTH single had been gifted to me by my favorite Chicago power-punk band. They have been extremely generous in giving their fanbase and community a plethora of new music, although it might have been nice to be able to have a whole new album in July rather than just half of one. The latest single that the band has released is titled “Entropy” and I’ve probably listened to it about twenty times already. It is a beautiful message that expresses the anxieties that bloom at the beginning of a new relationship and the blissful aftermath after that fear has dissolved. This song, like “Fire Escape”, gives us a peek into the new sound that the band has been constructing since their last EP (Blame Game).
Overall, the tracks that we have recieved so far have given us a delectable taste of what Beach Bunny has in store for us this July.
Be sure to give “Emotional Creature” a listen when it debuts on July 22nd everywhere (availible to stream and buy; hard copies will be availible for purchase as well). I’m sure that it will be nothing short of astronomical.
Sofia Wheelock 