Deafheaven's 'Sunbather'

I'm honestly surprised with the lack of enthusiasm for Deafheaven's second album Sunbather. The world went nuts with the band's debut album and even more so with their demo. Now, a few years later, it feels like it's only me and the crickets who are still cheering Deafheaven on. Perhaps I'm looking for enthusiasm in the wrong places?


Maybe it was just me, but I could tell Deafheaven was capable of greater things when I first heard the band's 2010 demo and 2011's Roads to Judah. Both of these are pretty darn good albums, but I kept saying to myself, "I know they can do better."

Deafheaven's incredible cover of Mogwai's "Punk Rock/Cody" that appeared on their split with Bosse-de-Nage really showed a huge step forward in their song writing abilities. [Side note: before this split was released, I messaged the label to find out if the LP would come with a digital download code. They said they couldn't secure the rights from the copyright holder of Mogwai's music to be able to release the album digitally. However, last week I found the split on Amazon and nearly shit my pants. Guess they got that legal crap figured out...]

Then I found out this split was a return to the way Deafheaven did things with their demo: founding members George Clarke and Kerry McCoy recorded and composed "Punk Rock/Cody" themselves as opposed to having the other three (is it just two now?) members contribute as was done with Roads to Judah. Apparently all of Sunbather was written and recorded the same way.

From the press release: "Without question 'Sunbather' is Deafheaven at the peak of their creative strength and vision of their young existence. A masterfully crafted work of art that will be renowned for years to come."

The track listing is below. If you'll notice, this is the first Deafheaven album to have more than four songs. However, three of them are supposed to be interludes, so technically there are only four songs. Good news for guys who like well structured albums with intros, interludes and closers like myself.

1. "Dream House"
2. "Irresistible"
3. "Sunbather"
4. "Please Remember"
5. "Vertigo"
6. "Windows"
7. "The Pecan Tree"

Below is live recording of the album's first track, "Dream House". So far, it's the only clip released from Sunbather, and it's sounding pretty darn good. Unfortunately, or fortunately if you haven't heard it yet, the song is preceded by "Punk Rock/Cody". "Dream House" begins around the 8:20 mark.

From the press release: "With opener 'Dream House' George Clarke's tortured vocals familiarly intertwine with Kerry McCoy's hypnotic guitar work before crashing into a wash of post-everything melody."