Bad Suns
Language & Perspective
(Vagrant Records)

The upbeat and melodious energy on Language & Perspective from Southern California’s Bad Suns, stays effortlessly in a pop-rock embrace of swooping bass lines and an appreciated percussive complexity. Seemingly cut from the similitude of bands like Third Eye Blind, Bad Suns revives a giddy and enjoyable liveliness to songs that muse over love and love lost. At times dance-friendly, the rhythmic runs and warmly endearing vocal dynamics are engaging and catchy. The disco-dreamy “We Move Like The Ocean” plumes in exploratory, large sounds of layered guitars and an overall sweetened, cinematic moodiness. Cascading keys and bleary effects of guitar build nicely around the moody frustration of a strained disappointment. The flirty, fiery guitar riffs on “Cardiac Arrest” enlighten the track as it seems to detail the hopeless confines of seduction, sink or swim. The pop push of “Pretend” is vibrant, colorful and optimistic, while “Rearview” has such a robust swing, the hook’s appeal and Bad Suns’ brilliance cannot be denied.