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 ..
