Superheaven
Superheaven


3.7
great

Review

by jesper STAFF
April 18th, 2025 | 42 replies


Release Date: 04/18/2025 | Tracklist

Review Summary: don't stop, make it pop

We live in strange times. The year is 2025, a new Superheaven record is somehow available for consumption, and I am tempted to start my review of said album by talking about a Chinese short-form video platform. Lol.

Let’s keep the TikTok side of things brief: after an all too brief run of putting out wonderful grungy bangers as Daylight and Superheaven, the band’s knack for melancholy excellence was picked up by the aforementioned app’s user base at large. “Youngest Daughter” has been streamed 150 million times (jfc) and Superheaven are the most culturally relevant they’ve ever been: hell yeah. It feels weirdly validating: on the personal side of things, I have been singing the band’s praises for over a decade (look at me, I’m so cool). Fr tho - I remember walking around with Jar in my headphones, excited to see whether both lil and big Tay would show up on that week’s Tuesdays With Tay. I suppose it’s possible to understand Superheaven’s TikTok relevance and feel old at once.

Perhaps that’s why hearing the chorus to lead single “Cruel Times” brought a tear to my eye. It’s a melody so quintessentially Superheaven: all the right elements, from the crunchy riffs to Taylor Madison’s soaringly detached vocals, are omnipresent. Much like the other nine tracks on this new, self-titled record, the song seems to put forth the most Superheaven-sounding Superheaven music ever. Above all, it’s goddamn thicc: throughout its thirty minutes, the record sounds as oppressive as Ours is Chrome but adds the varied songwriting of Jar: it’s the best of both worlds…

…ish. Don’t get me wrong, Superheaven is a highly enjoyable record, and perhaps the most easily accessible release by the band yet. However, the thing I respect most about it might also be what’s holding it back from being excellent: there is no attempt at recapturing the atmosphere of ultra-sleeper hit “Youngest Daughter”, or, in broader terms, the band’s more emotional and/or pretty-sounding tendencies are largely absent here. In my view, Superheaven’s primary strength has always been their ability to package delicate emotions in dense songs, and sneak ethereal melodies into crushing riffs. Here, we find some glimpses of that in “Stare at the Void” and “The Curtain”, but Superheaven seems a little too preoccupied with immediacy. Songs establish themselves by finding a pace, a ponderous melody, and largely stick with it for one to three minutes. They’re good songs, but I keep finding myself wishing for just a little more.

If nothing else, it feels amazing to be listening to new Superheaven music in 2025. This might just be the most straightforward “rock” album in quite some time - and that’s perfectly fine. It may not appeal to the TikTok crowd as much as it appeases the “back in my day” boomers in YouTube comments, and I think I respect the band for that. These young guns can Rock like Keith Richards …. 1978 at the Rich stadium ! back when real Music ..




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user ratings (45)
3.2
good


Comments:Add a Comment 
JesperL
Staff Reviewer
April 18th 2025


5841 Comments

Album Rating: 3.7

best post 2015 superheaven song remains webbed wing's "saturdays" sorry chat

OverSlyZed91
April 18th 2025


433 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Not bad, but nothing special. "From the waist down" was such a fucking banger, and no such song is present here.

BallsToTheWall
April 18th 2025


52578 Comments


This is a good
Music start to Friday. I’m digging it.

henryChinaski
April 18th 2025


5160 Comments


cool, will check. Singles were solid

YoYoMancuso
Staff Reviewer
April 18th 2025


19772 Comments


DJ BLOW MY SPEAKERS UP good review as always

RVAHC13
April 18th 2025


1246 Comments


Nice review, I have a hard time getting into a lot of the shoegaze grunge/deftones worship stuff but these guys and Narrow Head are pretty good.

Dedes
Contributing Reviewer
April 18th 2025


11743 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

By all means this band does give me generic grunge garage rock vibes and for a reason I cannot put my finger on they still bring this strange wave of warmth and comfort.



This album thus far kinda rules, it's spacious and airy but not necessarily cold or isolated. Gives me major crossfaded as hell with the boys kinda vibe and that's a fucking GREAT thing.

JohnFire
April 18th 2025


958 Comments


After being let down by the comeback of Young Widows, this is just as bad, sadly. Will give it another chance, but after a first listen the only word that came to mind was Denkmalschändung...

Dedes
Contributing Reviewer
April 18th 2025


11743 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

That is absofuckinglutely not a word that has ever come to someone's mind

Relinquished
April 18th 2025


49787 Comments


it make sense why he thought of it

JayEnder
April 18th 2025


22202 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Pretty solid comeback album. Better than Ours Is Chrome but not nearly as good as Jar.



I'm not sure why they went with such a hideous album cover tho

JohnFire
April 18th 2025


958 Comments


"That is absofuckinglutely not a word that has ever come to someone's mind"

^me when I tried to build a tower in Babel

EphemeralEternity
April 18th 2025


4789 Comments


When I first saw myself in the mirror the only word that came to mind was Backpfeifengesicht

EphemeralEternity
April 18th 2025


4789 Comments


Album cover is on some R.L. Stine shit

Sunnyvale
Staff Reviewer
April 18th 2025


6510 Comments


Jesper blowin' the speakers up, I see

outliers
April 18th 2025


5248 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

what a snoozefest of an alb jfc,



also Chrome dunks all over this

EphemeralEternity
April 19th 2025


4789 Comments


They were cooking for 10 years and this still came out half baked

Boring as sun bleached dog shit

kevbogz
April 19th 2025


6669 Comments


hello as a daylight/superheaven doctorate i would like to say that if i have to hear how tiktok has done xyz to music 1 more time i Will put a bullet thru my skull

Dedes
Contributing Reviewer
April 19th 2025


11743 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

I mean

The influence actually is kind of nice to see at times

And actually kinda surprising that it's oft as wildly potent as it is, hell dude I got into this band when they were still jar with like, sub 50k listeners and it's really strange but nice to watch them blow up 5 fold.

EphemeralEternity
April 19th 2025


4789 Comments


I'll give this another chance tomorrow but man it bored me today, I've already forgotten what it sounds like

Bands like Soul Blind, Moodring, Narrow Head, Siilk are doing this grunge/shoegaze thing but more interesting



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