Bad Suns’s “Disappear Here” [Review]

Bad Suns is a weird one for me. Their music would always appear in my Spotify’s auto-play but I never really paid them any mind. I only started to really give them a listen because I actually saw a copy of “Disappear Here” on vinyl back in September 2021 and decided to pick it up. I think that was probably one of the greatest decisions I’ve ever made because I have been addicted to them since.

I decided to review this album because I first heard the song “Peachy” last month as the band is preparing for the release of their 4th studio album “Apocalypse Whenever” on January 28th, 2022. Since then I’ve been blasting every single from that album and I wanted to review my favorite album by the band.

Releasing on September 16th, 2016, “Disappear Here” is Bad Suns’ sophomore album. With mixed to positive reception, the band manages to keep each track on the record feeling unique and nothing overstaying its welcome.

From this Twitter video, Bad Suns got the title and a lot of inspiration for “Disappear Here” from Bret Easton Ellis’ novel “Less Than Zero”. As with most of Bad Suns’ music, we see a lot of heavy inspiration from the ’70s and ’80s, with this being most apparent in their early works.

Kicking off the album we have the title track, and debut single off the album, “Disappear Here”. The way this track starts off with such a delicate guitar melody that explodes into an incredible power rock anthem is such a delight. This song shifts from that delicate tone to one that leans into a much harsher 80s vibe keeps you coming back to it listen after listen. Combine that with the vocals and you have a really nice treat to the start of this album. We do see a lot of recurring themes of love and heartache in this album, and this track is no exception to that. Not only do we see it reflected in the only music video from this album, but the lyrics suggest a conflict between two lovers, working to either save a failing relationship or letting it ‘disappear here’.

The heartache doesn’t stop as the next track, aptly named, “Heartbreaker” follows the same trend, an incredible upbeat indie pop/rock melody with much darker lyrics. If we take the whole album as one story, we can infer that the singer broke up with their partner and they’re now celebrating that. Despite this, they’re conflicted and can’t shake their feeling off. After paying a visit to their ex just to “grab their clothes”, they suggest that making this trip was a mistake as they still have incredibly strong feelings for them. This track takes a backseat to the previous in terms of its guitar, but it’s able to use some major notes that feel like minor notes to just add so much more emotion to this song. One thing I only noticed while writing this review is that the singer is actually whispering the melody in your left ear as the song ends showing that there’s some incredible depth to this track as well.

The major feeling minor notes continue to show their heads in “Off She Goes” as the opening riff feels almost off-key. For some reason, this riff just hits you with a flood of emotion, fuse that the almost plea-like nature of the opening lyrics, this track really delves deep into your emotions. With the back and forth of those beautiful notes, the vibrant chorus, all ending in a clean instrumental, this track really plays with your heartstrings in the best way.

The 80s influence that Bad Suns takes inspiration from is immediately present in “Love Like Revenge”. The heavy use of synthesizers and trumpets is a refreshing change of pace after all of the guitar in the previous tracks. Only now on an extremely close listen am I really hearing the intricacies of the synthesizers. From the one that echoes the melody in your right ear during the pre-chorus, to the ones during the bridge, it’s almost like you’re listening to a different band. Continuing the yarn that was spun in the tracks leading up to this one, the singer is hoping to reunite with their ex, but knows that it will only end badly.

While you can shake your hips to most of the songs on this record, “Even In My Dreams I Can’t Win” is probably the first one where you may actively want to get up and dance. The lyrics of this song are pretty much summed up by the title. The singer is struggling to fall asleep at night as they’re troubled by their dreams. In the bridge, we hear the lyric “Have you ever had that dream where you couldn’t swim… Suddenly I’m awake but I’m still in that scene, in a storm lost at sea”, which pushes the idea that the singer is in an almost depressed state. With that said, if we carry on with the story from the last song; the singer may very well be haunted by thoughts of their ex. Regardless of the dark meaning behind the song, the upbeat guitar really carries this piece. Something I never really paid too much attention to was how this track ends. A bizarre melody plays for the last 30 seconds of the song and while this probably has some sort of meaning, most of the time I skip it because it’s not only a tiny bit offputting, but it adds nothing to the piece, nor the album as a whole. Maybe it’s what the singer hears in their dream, who knows.

One hip shaker after the other, “Patience” is probably one of the top tracks on this album for me. The killer guitar, the bass being the backbone of the song, the drums keeping that heartbeat going, it really makes you wanna get up and dance. We see the continuing theme of dreams following up on “Even In My Dreams I Can’t Win”, but this time, the singer is getting over them. The lyric “All my dreams have been weighing me down, like an anchor to my bed I can live my life instead” says it better than I could. Leaving those thoughts and dreams behind and just keeping on keeping on.

The record slows down a bit in “Swimming In The Moonlight”. Taking the track literally, we are painted a scene of a young couple deeply in love, skinny dipping in the cold. The lyric “swimming in the moonlight” can also be interpreted as falling in love. Along with the lines “You’re the moon, my blue lagoon, my favorite tune, my everything”, we see the singer is truly in love with the person they’re singing about. This song is very reminiscent of an ’80 power ballad and really puts some emphasis on the guitar.

“Defeated” follows up pure love with some heavy sorrow. The singer is really putting their heart into the words they’re speaking, saying that they’re deeply in love with someone, but “lashing out regrettably” and feels like things are getting worse in their relationship. They hate who they’ve become and want to change. This song, like the last one, feels very much like an ’80s song. Despite the heavy emotion that was poured into this song, and how it explodes toward the end, I do feel like this is probably one of the weaker songs on the album as a whole.

“Daft Pretty Boys” released as a single one week before the album came out and is probably the most popular song on the record and might just be the band’s biggest hit. It’s pretty obvious why this track is widely loved, the slow build to the chorus, the lyrics are one of the catchiest on the album, the vocalizing is perfect, everything about this track is just great and it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Digging into the lyrics, the singer describes a beautiful woman who looks innocent enough but is dark and mysterious. There’s a man who’s instantly drawn to her and falls into the “love at first sight” trope. The woman however doesn’t pay him any mind and the man is taken aback and figures that she only cares about pretty boys instead of him.

“Violet” is probably the last song on this album that would want to make you get up and dance. The guitar leads you in, the shaker keeps the heartbeat of this track, and the bass carries you from chorus to chorus. The percussion really pulls its weight in this song and the backup vocals are no joke either. This song is about a toxic relationship and how the singer wants to be with the person they saw in the photo at the beginning of the song. I think my favorite lyric on this song, and the one that best describes the song as a whole is “I know you’re poison when I sink my teeth into you”.

The record slows down once again with “Maybe We’re Meant to Be Alone”. The singer says they’ve got their life planned out but wonder if they need to be with someone to carry out that plan. The person they met and wanted to fall in love with is in love with someone else and the singer is broken up about it. This song is probably the slowest on the record and the most ballad-like with a heavy focus on a soft guitar feel.

“How Am I Not Myself” picks up the tempo and is actually the shortest track on the album. The guitar is the main instrument here as it is with most of this record. There really isn’t much to say about this song as it’s actually very repetitive and doesn’t really do too much different from the rest of the album. It does manage to sound different from every other song, but it’s not a standout hit. The lyrics are pretty catchy, and the singer is confused about either who they are or who they’ve become.

Rounding out the album is “Outskirts of Paradise”. This piece really completes the album as all of the instruments have their turn in the spotlight, from the guitar, the bass, the drums, the shaker, and of course the vocals. While this song may not make you want to get up and dance, you might bob your head to this track. The singer is ready to take on life and really finding out who they are in this track. Bowman, the lead singer really shows off his vocals in this song and closes out the album in such a lovely tone.

Final Thoughts

“Disappear Here” is an upbeat indie rock/pop album that gets pretty dark when you pay attention to the lyrics. There are some really good dance songs on this piece and every piece manages to stay pretty unique. While I do find some of the slower songs to be weaker, I do love the heavy ’80s influence of the record as a whole, and it has quickly risen to the top of my favorite albums.

Album Score: 8/10
Favorite track: “Violet”