January. It’s cold, dark, miserable; the perfect time for a new album from Bad Suns. With their fourth full-length the California four-piece are offering another slice of light upbeat pop-rock, exactly what you need to chase away the winter blues.
Having scoured chart hits from the 1980s for inspiration ‘Apocalypse Whenever’ arrives with a breezy charm. As laid-back as its title suggests, it may lack urgency but more than makes up for it in its relentless accessibility. It’s not hard to see why Bad Suns are compared to The 1975, despite operating on slightly different sonic palette, and you get the feeling that this is album designed to be huge. Not because it’s full of big choruses but because everything is warm and familiar, making it hard not to like.
Over thirteen songs the band take a tour of what seems like the whole ’80s synth-pop era, with each song having a distinctive feel. While they claim to draw inspiration from The Cure, you can also hear the influence of everything – from new wave to the new romantics and even New Order – making for a varied collection. That it feels so coherent is quite an achievement.
On previous records the songs were guitar-based, with synths used to add weight and texture. Here, the whole album is built around them, making for a richer sound and pushing the guitars into the background. While their music has always been accessible, this has the effect of rounding off the harder edges making the overall sound distinctly middle-of-the-road like late era Coldplay. Quite often the songs coast along on an easy vibe but there’s a definite sense that the band know what they’re doing. Frequently there’s an increase in tempo or a more powerful final chorus to hold your attention just when the song needs it. For example, although the title track appears fun and friendly, guitars erupt at the outro giving it a little more weight. It’s a trait shared by ‘When The World Was Mine’ where the snappy drum-led middle eight proves to be something of an album highlight.
Atmosphere infuses much of the album, with songs like ‘Nightclub (Waiting For you)’ having a nostalgic aura, with a warmth to the backing that feels like a balmy summer night. It’s not the only time they capture this ambience either, but it is the most prominent. Similarly the quiet musing ‘Wishing Fountains’ is artfully backed by strings, enhancing the song’s overall power and giving the album a more expansive overall feel (also making it nicely upbeat). In many ways it works like a transition song as it’s followed by the throbbing electronic backing of ‘Electric Circus’ leading into the album’s more powerfully synthy second half. Here the layered ‘Silently Screaming’ uses saxophone and popping bass to sound like a Wham track, a characteristic shared by the breathless ‘Heaven Is a Place In My Head’ which captures a similar vibe albeit in a very different way.
Despite feeling rather one-dimensional, the charmingly inoffensive single ‘Peachy’ is pleasant enough to be lapped up by fans, even if it is a little weightless. Similarly ‘Baby Blue Shades’ is perhaps the most lackadaisical song; a solid slice of pop leaning hard on the falsetto vocals making it feel like a by-the-numbers chart hit – hit being the important word as it’s very radio-friendly; big, catchy and heart-warming. Largely this is down to the vocals and it’s surprising how buoyant they are. There’s a bubbly personality infused in the light falsetto which gives this and the other songs real character, even when the lyrics seem a little gauche. There’s also a rapid-fire vocal tick on ‘Electric Circus’ that give it that same personality and it is perhaps a shame it isn’t used elsewhere.
In contrast, the vocal processing on the first verse of ‘Summer Lightning’ clashes horribly with the bright almost-calypso music, and luckily only appears once. This robotic sound might seem a strange choice given that Christopher Bowman has such a smooth and meticulous singing style but as a common feature amongst their contemporaries its inclusion does make sense. When it rears its head again in ‘Life Was Easier When I Cared About Me’, the sharp synths and slightly harder feel lend themselves to a little vocal trickery and it’s far more satisfying. It’s also notable how ‘Symphony of Lights’ uses a big vocal progression to mask its clunky organ and blundering metronome-style music, which works far better than you’d think and makes for a pleasing conclusion overall.
With carefully balanced mix of styles and a strong ear for what works, Bad Suns have created a solid and likeable fourth record. Embracing a wide range of synth-pop influences ‘Apocalypse Whenever’ is a bright, comfortable pop-rock experience and the perfect remedy to dark wintry nights.
IAN KENWORTHY