Beach Fossils were ready-made for their niche in the late ’00s/early ’10s – right down to the name – alongside woozy acts like Real Estate, Wild Nothing and DIIV (Zachary Cole Smith was even a member early on). While most bands of this ilk moved on or broke up, Dustin Payseur and co. kept on down the similar path with just minor refinements along the way.
Bunny feels like a bit of a throwback because of this, and while there’s a couple of new influences like Spiritualized or early Verve, the meat of the album still harkens back to the jangle of The Byrds/Cure. There are moody, fuzzed-out guitars that beg to be brought forward in the mix to add a little more heft (e.g. Numb), à la The Jesus and Mary Chain. But across the album there’s a greater focus on the lyrics (now that they’re more discernible), for better or worse.
The quick, catchy Dare Me is an excellent showcase of where the band are currently at, and lines like “nothing feels as good as wasted time” fit the slacker mood perfectly. But on Don’t Fade Away we have “she’s novocaine / all I need to ease the pain / don’t fade away…” which could’ve been cribbed straight from early Oasis or anytime Spiritualized, but comes across a little toothless with the guitar’s sharp edges sanded down. Anything is Anything literally uses the title as its chorus, demonstrating the occasionally wispy lyricism.
Plenty of songs speak to a heedless youth that’s a little more restrained these days, particularly Run to the Moon and Feel So High, and the clarity and sheen of the album speaks to a greater level of maturity. But the youthful rush that made their early releases so exciting feel a long way in the past. Now pushing 40 the band may be more settled, but when dreamy lo-fi gets too comfortable you’re edging into soporific territory.