What began in 2015 as a bedroom project for Chicago-based Lili Trifilio had become something of an online phenomenon by the time 2018’s self-released Prom Queen was streamed 67m times. Now a fully fleshed-out four-piece with an actual record deal, Beach Bunny’s debut full-length effort doesn’t disappoint: Honeymoon is a blast of upbeat indie-pop that in February sounds as anachronous as it is welcome. Throughout, lyrical anxieties (“I’m afraid of being alone”) are offset against breezily carefree hooks that waste little time getting to a bittersweet chorus, before ending just as quickly.
The most obvious touchstone is the sun-kissed indie perfected by Best Coast, down to the sentiments expressed in Beach Bunny’s Ms California (“Everything’s better in California”), which mirror Bethany Cosentino’s love letters to her home state (most notably The Only Place) – albeit in Trifilio’s case, looking in from the outside. Colorblind and Cuffing Season are particularly irresistible, while the more intimate Racetrack, with Trifilio backed by just a slightly distorted keyboard, shares much with Big Thief. The slightly leaden climax to Rearview aside, there’s barely a second wasted in Honeymoon’s 25-minute running time.
