‘…both talented enough in their execution and creative enough in their approach to stand out amongst the crowd…’
Forming back in 2020, Brisbane quintet sunbleached have established themselves as quite the rising stars of the Australian alternative scene. Heavy in their musical experience and prolific in their releases, this grunge-adjacent outfit have toured with modern legends of alternative music, including Citizen and Holding Absence, whilst garnering strong widespread acclaim; Triple J’s Jack Bergin, formerly of Void Of Vision, has become quite the champion of their efforts. At long last, this September saw sunbleached release their debut full-length record, ‘Stop Destroying the Things You Love’.
‘Stop Destroying The Things You Love’ sees sunbleached taking a firmly grunge backbone, and decorating it with ideas from post-hardcore and metalcore. Guitars arrive as crushing distorted waves of noise, rhythms are kept restrained and tense, and the minimalist yet evocative lyricism is delivered with a combination of hushed, moody melodies and visceral screams. The resulting record is intimate, darkly intense, and unwillingly obsessive, as themes of lust and self-sabotage unfold with one electrifying performance after another.
‘Delicate Places We Hide’ serves as a great introduction to the record, as murky fuzz intertwines with shimmering guitar melodies, and vocalist Josh Baker showcases his distinctive, subtly captivating vocal style with poignant lyricism. ‘Flesh Prison’ follows-up with a glittering, enchanting darkness, as Baker alludes repeatedly returning to a meaningless situationship despite yearning for more; the band flirt with gothic ideas, reverb-soaked guitars straddling a thick, unrepentant bass line, driving forwards with hypnotic ferocity.
‘Slow Burn’ weaves in post-hardcore flair to the band’s dynamics, with the violent backing screams working wonderfully with the track’s raucous tension, whilst the heaviness takes on a patient, moody guise with the monstrously groovy ‘Pain Chamber’. Undoubtedly, however, the band reach their apex with ‘Dissolve & Bloom’, as their claustrophobic melancholy takes on surprisingly cinematic shades; Baker’s melodies are simple, but highly effective, weaving gently atop of a cruising instrumental, decorated with particularly beautiful guitar work.
Despite the band’s strongest material being their rock-oriented and heavy-adjacent work, that is not to say that the softer aspects of this record are disappointing; sunbleached’s biggest apparent strength is their capacity for variety whilst maintaining strong cohesion, culminating in a record that feels conceptually strong throughout. ‘Star Crossed Lover’ is a dramatic and dreamlike affair that utilises vague suggestions of jazz and even trip-hop to produce a sonic astral projection of a track, whilst ‘Sweet Pea’ shares a similar, albeit far more restrained, approach, finishing off the album on a glitteringly memorable note.
‘Stop Destroying The Things You Love’ is a solid debut record indicative of a band with immense potential; whilst firmly entrenched in the grunge revival zeitgeist of current alternative music, sunbleached are both talented enough in their execution and creative enough in their approach to stand out amongst the crowd. A welcome addition to the already incredible Australian heavy scene.
RATING: 74/100
For Fans Of: Holding Absence, Loathe, Bodyweb, Thornhill, Title Fight
Physical copies are available to purchase from here.
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