Indie rock group Beach Bunny has returned with their third studio album. After releasing a synth-pop, uniquely styled space-themed album, Emotional Creature, in 2022, the band is back to their original upbeat rock style of their 2020 album Honeymoon and 2021 EP Blame Game.
The band is currently made up of three members: lead singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist Lili Trifilio, percussionist Jon Alvarado, and lead guitarist Anthony Vaccaro. Beach Bunny began as a solo project by Trifilio in 2015 when she recorded a song called “6 Weeks” and released her own EP, Animalism, later that year. After releasing two other EPs, she joined other musicians and the band was formed.
In late 2019, Beach Bunny announced that they had signed with record label Mom + Pop and released Honeymoon as their first full length album in February 2020. The band quickly gained attention due to two of their songs going viral on TikTok—”Prom Queen” in 2018, and “Cloud 9”, from Honeymoon, in 2021.
Honeymoon appeared on the Best Albums of 2020 list in both The New York Times and Rolling Stone. In October 2021, they released “Oxygen”, the first single from the album Emotional Creature which would release in July 2022.
Following Emotional Creature‘s release, Beach Bunny took a short hiatus due to then lead guitarist Matt Henkels’s departure from the band. In July 2024, they released “Vertigo”, the first single from Tunnel Vision, which was just released on April 25th this year.
Tunnel Vision‘s album cover, in my opinion, is Beach Bunny’s best, with its bold, eye-catching pink color scheme that depicts Trifilio lost in thought on her colorful bedroom floor, as if she was a teenager lost in thought.
The opening track, “Mr. Predictable”, follows a theme of existential dread, wishing “the world to be Mr. Predictable”, but ultimately coming to the realization that this is unattainable. After the two subsequent tracks, “Big Pink Bubble” and “Chasm”, discuss avoidance and the struggle to be enough while dealing with the past, I quickly noticed something about the album.
While the majority of Emotional Creature and Honeymoon‘s songs are about love and relationships, Tunnel Vision focuses on personal struggles. I realized the album will resonate with those who deal with personal struggles while being a teenager.
“Vertigo” employs unique imagery of being in an airport to talk about the struggles within the process of emotional healing. Similarly, title track “Tunnel Vision” discusses emotional confusion when making decisions and using intuition.
In contrast, “Pixie Cut” talks about a feeling of losing control and struggling with acceptance of certain circumstances being out of your hands.
“Violence” goes back to the theme of existential dread, focusing on some contemporary issues and focusing on the pressure to “find a meaning” amidst it all. “Just Around the Corner” examines similar anticipation mixed with dread, wondering what could happen next under the influence of the government and the Internet.
The closing track “Cycles” explores the struggle of feeling like your life is stuck in a cycle underneath society’s pressures, including beauty standards. Similar to other songs from the album, I like how this track is upbeat and not depressing to listen to, while still having relatable lyrics.
The band is also currently on tour, having stopped in Pittsburgh on April 12th at the Roxian Theater. They played a variety of songs from all their albums and EPs, including some from Tunnel Vision that had not been released yet.
Overall, Tunnel Vision stands out to me due to its unique themes and lyrics. While I do prefer Beach Bunny’s 2020-2022 style, this new release is very representative of the emotional teenage experience and still certainly worth the listen.
