Before writing about a band for our Track of the Day slot– I often go and do a bit of background digging to see what I can unearth on the acts in question. The digging for Bad Suns seemingly bought up the same two points: that they’re a quartet from Southern California and that everyone seems to liken them to The 1975. In fact, in one such digging escapade I was informed that ‘[Bad Suns are] like The 1975 if they grew up in the West Coast sunshine‘. It kind of sets you up with an expectation of a band.
My issue is that yes, whilst these are two factors that you could focus on when discussing Bad Suns music, there’s so much more that people are overlooking. Yes, you can easily feel the Californian sunshine washing over your skin with every note of ‘Salt‘ but that’s not the only influence on here. There’s the 80’s groove that makes you want to bust some moves like no one is watching (I’ve been something akin to that scene in Extremely Goofy Movie for the past 20 minutes whilst listening to it). ‘Salt‘ pulls together modern and classical influences to create a
track perfectly suited to the indie disco. It has tropical percussion
and disco synths straight out of the 80’s playing against the pulsating bassline and lead-guitar hook: think Kajagoogoo meeting Jagwar Ma— it’s gloriously refreshing.
I do have to concede that yes, there’s something a little 1975-ish about them, but they’ve distilled the most infectious, fun elements out of The 1975’s tracks and added more of a toe-tapping indie-pop sound, making them less bland and more smile-inducing than the Manchester lot ever could hope to be.
‘Salt‘ is the perfect beginning of your weekend. So dust off those dancing shoes, pull the flares from the wardrobe and go hit yourself a Propaganda night. Bad Suns are here to let you groove until your heart is content.
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