By Sophie Scannell, Music Editor
Watching a New York-based band, it’s not lost on me how special it is to live in a city like Bristol. We somehow always find ourselves as finalists in the pickings for UK tour stops, lucky recipients when American bands venturing across the ocean take their pick of their favourite British venues to play.
Just managing to catch the end of their supporting set for Wolf Alice in a frenzied visit to Cardiff last month, this latest album was my first impression of the band, so going to the gracious Bristol stop that the band were making after the fact was a no-brainer.
Dressed in a wispy white dress that sharply complemented her jet black hair, frontwoman Julia Cumming was assisted by the multitude of stage fans pointed towards her in looking like the most glamourous lady in the room. The music was great, but her flowing locks and grade-A bangs were winning a solid silver medal for what had a hold on my attention the most.
Over halfway through the set, it’s revealed that drummer, Olive, has been playing, and will continue to play, with no earpiece. Just one of the many moments of effortless cool from the band that their set will continue to showcase.
Sunflower Bean’s latest offering, Mortal Primetime, place the band in the role of The Last Dinner Party’s evil twin sister. ‘Nothing Romantic’ and ‘Champagne Taste’ open the album with brooding and dramatic flair, gothic in its aesthetics and formidable in its rock overtones and slightly opera vocal deliveries.
‘Take Out Your Insides’ and ‘I Knew Love’, on the other hand, are fuzzy, tender ballads, beautifully sweet in both sound and sentiment.
Dabrowka Nowak
It seems that Sunflower Bean can do it all, and if the excellence of this record, and show, is anything to go by, they’re undoubtedly a band to watch over the next few years.
Featured image: Epigram / Sophie ScannellHave you listened to Mortal Primetime yet?
