Tunnel Vision

Beach Bunny went through a few changes after releasing their 2022 album Emotional Creature. Guitarist Matt Henkels left the band, and they scaled back their sound from the full and polished approach of that record to something more straightforward and simple on 2025s Tunnel Vision. The one thing that stayed the same is singer/songwriter Lili Trifilio, whose plaintive vocals and ripped-from-her-journal lyrics are still intact, and thats good news for those who have fallen in love with the band. The record delivers all the melodic punch and emotional power of their previous work, and Trifilio sounds more confident, both as a singer and a writer. This means that a little bit of the innocence and awkwardness that were featured in the past have been removed, but not enough to make much of a difference. There is still more than enough of Trifilios blood and guts spilled in the grooves, and if her pain is wrapped in sweeter, more smoothed-out packaging, it could be far worse. Punk-pop tracks like "Chasm" and "Vertigo" have big hooks and the trio bash them out with a newfound muscularity, yet theyre also able to play with precision and restraint on more intimate songs. The combination of the groups fragile power and Trifilios tender words and voice on "Clueless" is heart-tugging and something the band would do well to explore more. Where they should pull up on the reigns is on songs like "Violence" and "Just Around the Corner," where they zoom out from the day-to-day travail of Trifilios life and get more wide-screen and political. The lyrics dont have the same power here and its something of a deflation at the end of the record, where one would hope it would really stick the landing instead. Something of a letdown after the brilliant Emotional Creature, but still first-rate punk-pop, and Trifilio remains a songwriter worth keeping tabs on. ~ Tim Sendra