Utah-based rockers The Sunmills captivate across their debut album The Art of Burning Bridges, a hook-filled production thematically exploring romantic misfires, vanished exes, and other instances of personal strife and sabotage. Spanning from soaring guitar-ready charisma to funky rhythic entrancement, the release excels throughout — and particularly on tracks “Burning Bridges” and “Rock and Roll.”
An anthemic, no-frills rock invigoration takes hold on the aptly titled “Rock and Roll,” chronicling the beauty of succumbing to the titular style’s irritability and lifestyle. “I can’t say that I’m feeling too bad about playing in a rock and roll band,” the vocals let out excitably, admitting thereafter “I might lose my soul,” in chasing musical ambitions. Crunchy guitars and excitable vocal hooks move into a suave solo past the one-minute turn, carrying into a second half that continues to thrill in its overall charisma.
The album’s title track and flagship single, “Burning Bridges” is another standout. A confessional, glistening rock and pop immediacy compels quickly, moving seamlessly from sporadic meshing of bass and guitar within the introspective verses — “my friends irritate me, I don’t want to hear their life review,” — and into an effervescent, title-touting central hook — with shades of Red Hot Chili Peppers in the laid-back guitar work. The band describe this highlight as “a breakup song for people who accidentally alienate everyone they love, but still think the real villain is Mondays.”
Stream these tracks and the rest of this superb album, below:
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These and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
