 |
MH-286 Sunglasses - Wildlife  Sunglasses’ debut LP, Wildlife, is a winding collection of bright, eclectic journeys through the group’s unique sonic universe. The duo of singer/multi-instrumentalist Samuel Cooper and sound designer Brady Keehn use everything from acoustic guitars to iPhones, seamlessly blending analogue with digital to immersive, psychedelic effect. They first gained attention with the ingenious video for “Whiplash,” and Wildlife doubles down on that song’s promise with epic tone and artistic maturity. Album opener “Namesake” tells listeners to “hold on,” which is good advice at the beginning of a wild ride. Standout tracks like “Common Sense” and the furiously shifting “Blessing” push and pull in many different directions, as Sunglasses weaves between sun-drenched, Smile-inspired vibes and extensive detours into the lands of sound collage, synth pop, and hip-hop. With its crunchy drums and wailing guitars, album centerpiece “Swim” is cathartic wave of increasingly intense crescendos, while the titular track is a baroque excursion reminiscent of the Flaming Lips and Harry Nilsson. Each song has an underlying pop sensibility and an expansive quality that rewards repeat listens. Wildlife, by Sunglasses, is an excitingly creative debut. |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reviews Summary |
| Brooklyn dance-pop duo Sunglasses find a way to turn anything into a tool to make your feet move - Consequence Of Sound / Multilayered summertime psych-pop soundtrack Check it out - Stereogum / It definitely tickles my Animal Collective funnybone. - Creative Loafing / Magnificent mural of distorted psychedelic bliss - Deftune |
| Reviews |
| Sunglasses have been quiet since turning out their debut, self-titled EP on Lefse in 2010; the Savannah-born, Brooklyn-based duo evidently hard at work, beavering away at their debut LP. And, so, we reap the fruits of their labors: Wildlife, Sunglasses' first-ever longplayer, due out November 13 on Mush. "Swim," the first single from the set, shows Sunglasses sticking to form. Which is, roughly: the high-pitched singing and pop-song penning of Samuel Cooper arising out of a milling ambient mist seen to by band 'sound designer' Brady Keehn. The (Single Edit) shears a few minutes of incidental noise from either end; focusing on the bright, babbling, chaotic jam that erupts in the middle. It's very much keeping with Sunglasses past, and operating in a post-Animal Collective climate; all babbling electronics and skittering rhythms, endless sonic details and seeming contradictions. "Swim" is clearly a product of (home) studio labor, and designed to be listened to coming through digital compression, on headphones; where its bitey top-end and slight white hiss and panoply of tiny scribbles can be heard, up uncomfortably close. - Alt Music |
CD/Not Yet Released