The 7th Best Album of 2025
#7, getting close to the top 5, man there were so many dope albums last year wew. At #7 we have Beach Bunny's Tunnel Vision.
I first heard Beach Bunny with the lead single for this album, Clueless, which came out towards the end of 2024. I then promptly forgot about the band until I saw the album had come out and was like, oh yeah that track was pretty dope I should check it out. And it delivered exactly what I needed.
A tight 30 minute power pop album that mostly delves into what a shitshow the world has been lately and how to navigate everything that comes with that. The kinda dissonance between the bubblegum pop sound and sadness/anger/frustration laden in the lyrics works well imo. It reminds me a bit of Jeff Rosenstock's Hellmode, but less punk and more pop. It is one-note, for sure. But the short runtime I think mitigates how that otherwise would be a negative. It gets to the point, hammers it for 10 tracks with immensely catchy choruses, and ends. The aforementioned Clueless is one of my favorites, but there are no skips here imo, and Chasm and Just Around the Corner are also really fkn good. Also shoutout to the single Year of the Optimist that came out not too long after the album and I basically consider that track 11 and it also fkn rules. Great year for Beach Bunny tbh, still regret not seeing them when they came to town.