19th February, 2026,
Thursday,
12:40
Dear diary, I have an existential crisis.
It’s actually common for people nowadays to experience confusion, anxiety, self-doubt, self-sabotage, self-I-didn’t-notice-the-atomic-explosion-outside-my-house and an urge to paint their rooms in odd colors, but that doesn’t exactly help my situation. Matter of fact, everybody has their own respective issues and a different way of dealing with them. I guess my way is to lock myself in my bedroom and blast music all day. There’s a cool indie band I found some time ago, wanna learn about them?
Beach Bunny emerged from another bedroom somewhere over the ocean, where Lili Trifilio made a batch of songs on her own. Then, a proper band assembled and they blew up, with their third full-length
Tunnel Vision dropping last spring. And it’s… how do I put it… Okay, so it’s sweet and simple and pretty and light, and also laced with existential crisis. A nice package, don’t you think? It’s amazing how this album can both sound like sunshine and lollipops, and feel like sitting atop an active volcano.
Time to open the drawer where I store my labels for genres.
Tunnel Vision sits between emo pop, punk and a bit of surf rock – suffice to say, it sounds
smooth with a decent
punch. Jon gives us a good beating, not through his muscles but percussion he provides, and a series of fun dynamics with the guitars. Cool riffs are floating all around and Lili dresses her personal journal-type lyrics in charming cleans with a rather specific vibrato. To be fair, I used to be skeptical about that last element, but given enough time, it only adds to the appeal.
The whole thing is short, barely 30 minutes long, but it still feels varied and full. “Mr. Predictable” opens the door with speed and punky energy that later dominates the lead single “Vertigo”. That latter song is like the essence of self-sabotage and the frustration it causes, perfectly encapsulated by vigorous (and a little jaded) singing. Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the room sit the three C’s – “Clueless”, “Chasm” and “Cycles”. They show us the emotional, vulnerable side of the band, dropping the ‘in your face’ attitude and wrapping emotional trouble in warm harmonies.
By the way, the purely synthpop route of “Cycles” makes it kind of an oddball here. That’s because it was originally Lili’s solo release from 2019 – so, you could say that she covered her own song.
Back on the (more) energetic side, we meet a start-stop bop “Just Around the Corner” and a proper gimmick in “Big Pink Bubble”: car noises complimenting the theme of desperately trying to stay in the metaphorical backseat. The title track was my immediate favourite. It has exciting tempo changes, some more bouncy start-stop rhythms and, most importantly, the main guitar riff is absolutely gorgeous. There’s only two songs here that I don’t necessarily like. “Pixie Cut” is awesome, but feels like a little weaker version of “Chasm”. And “Violence”… um… “Violence” is
technically okay, but its sad anthem vibe and socio-politically concerned lyrics are too over the top for my taste. But overall, I can honestly say that Lili, Anthony and Jon did a stellar job on this album.
I’ve already made this point in the past, but when it comes to releasing music, a good cover does wonders at attracting listeners. In the best case scenario, it’s not only aesthetically pleasing but also serves as an actual illustration of the music instead of being just a cool bonus. And here goes my shout out to Libby Frame (Peach Riot) who absolutely nailed
Tunnel Vision’s artwork. I love its aesthetic and it perfectly encapsulates the album’s vibe: we’re in a bright, messy comfort zone, with a sense of anxiety at play as a nuke goes off outside the window.
