Disappear Here＜Blue Vinyl＞

The L.A.-based band's much anticipated sophomore LP, Disappear Here picks right up where 2014's Language & Perspective left off, delivering another summery blast of windows-down guitar and synth pop with a post-punk twist. That hint of despondency, which is sprinkled evenly throughout the record's just over 45-minute running time, suggests formative years spent studying under the tutelage of professors Robert Smith and Steven Patrick Morrissey, but Bad Suns' predilection toward mopiness only ever manifests lyrically. As evidenced by the success of 2014's earworm-laden "Cardiac Arrest," Bad Suns are essentially a singles band, and Disappear Here doesn't disappoint via the one-two punch of the driving title track and its bouncy, hook-filled successor "Heartbreaker" -- the latter is the first of a handful of peppy cuts that invoke the dancefloor snap of the Cure's "Close to Me." Other standouts include the very Smiths-sounding -- in title only -- "Even in My Dreams, I Can't Win" and the bubbly "Daft Pretty Boys." ~ James Christopher Monger