I am absolutely enamoured by this record. Poised as a love letter to emo, reverb, grief, and the summer, The Sun nails the brief through a flurry of clever and catchy songs that range from a wide variety of influences across the genre as a whole. From the incendiary ROLLERCOASTER to the bit-crushed charm of Gravity, it feels like a road trip through emo’s past, and it is so much fun. Fun has been a concept that emo has struggled with for its entire existence. Some of the best emo albums of all time are full of fun, and that’s what gets us through the hard times.
The opening track, ROLLERCOASTER is easily the heaviest moment on the record. Blistering punk guitars lead into the crunchiest garage drums I’ve ever heard, all while the singer howls a protest for a dying relationship. The classic analogy of a relationship being a rollercoaster is delightfully ingrained in my brain from its unrelenting chorus. “Your love is a rollercoaster ride! Up down up down up down.” Its follow-up, Hightops, begins with a surf rock riff that turns into a chorus-filled, low-key cut.
Hightops captures the summer energy perfectly. A little goofy, a little forlorn, it is a blend of sounds that reminds me of MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular. Though it’s sonically on another part of the spectrum, The Sun hits the same feelings, the same energy as that record. It’s full of catchy, well-written songs that scream to the days when I was a kid and summer was about spending time with friends and fucking around. The days when heartbreak was sunbleached and optimistic. This record just has such a specific, indescribable energy to it.
landlocked surfing is a great companion piece to the chill Hightops, as both share that same summer vibe. landlocked surfing features a solid vocal performance that has that signature emo drawl, inviting us in with an incredibly infectious melody over weightless guitars. The song’s chorus blasts us with thumping, bitcrushed drums sure to leave a memorable mark on our brains.
Tamagotchi is another clear standout on the record. The In Betweens have such a knack for kitchy, irresistible choruses. The group’s dynamics are on full display with this cut as tame, melancholic verses erupt into urgent choruses, and we are battered with the cathartic “I WISHED YOU’D CARE FOR ME LIKE A TAMAGOCHI.” I love it. Such an apt metaphor. Silly and sappy, but honest and clever. It totally nails that Oso Oso, Origami Angel vein of Emo. Also, the line before the first chorus, “being the bigger person, whatever that means.” The attitude, the delivery, the writing. This song sees the band firing on all cylinders.
Me & You vs. Them is a more dour cut that harkens back to the age of 2010s DIY emo. Bands like Teen Suicide come to mind. Lines like “It’s the strobe lights that make me relapse, so when you’re dancing I think I’ll shoot up” paint a sinister scene replicated nowhere else on the album. It is a notable point of reflection that lets you get lost in its dark soundscape.
Helped Her emerges from the prior track like a sunshower offering a return to that summery feeling, full of melodies that refuse to leave my head. It follows an attempt to reconcile the guilt of heartbreak. The weight of navigating relationships and growing as a person. “I, I should have helped her” is repeated constantly throughout the track. Though it sits in a place of uncertainty. The singer wrestles with the blame. Looking back, they could have helped her and realized that it would have been the kind thing to do. But, they also understand that they are a different person now than they were.
I Used to Know (This Song by Heart) is pure early 2000s emo bliss. Drawing from bands like Tacking Back Sunday and Weezer, its iconic riff immediately brings nostalgia and hype, not to mention another banger of a chorus. It feels messy, raw, full of emotion, full of attitude. Starting slow and dreary, the song spends its whole time building towards its final chorus that just obliterates you, demanding that you sing along. A certified summer banger of a bygone era. This is the one that makes you go, “I gotta see this shit live!”
Closing out the album is the sentimental Gravity. Full of bitcrushed melodies and warm bass, this track is a wistful acknowledgement of change. The change of our friends as they grow, the change of love as we grow, and the change of seasons as the world turns; which is a nice nod to their past three, season-based albums, of which The Sun rounds out to four. “We’re not above the laws of gravity” holds a unique poignancy in this context. We are not able to live in a vacuum. The seasons will change, and we will change with them. It is a bittersweet end to a fun, lively, and exciting album. Mirroring the end of summer. One day, it just gets colder.
I kept coming back to the word ‘fun’ throughout this album. It feels like a simplistic and lacklustre description, but I am honestly lost for a better word. Through its 32-minute runtime, I had fun, which is something I don’t get to say enough about the albums I listen to. From front to back, I could just feel the passion the group had for this album and how it was a pure expression of their love of life. It feels alive, it feels classic, it feels natural, and I couldn’t be happier that it exists.
Written by Lando Flakes
