Bad Suns

L.A.-based four-piece band Bad Suns recently dropped their latest single “Heaven Is a Place in My Head” via Epitaph. Bringing the dreamy ’80s pastiche flanked by Stratocasters through cranked Vox amps, pulsing synths, and palpable rhythmic energy, Bad Suns will release their fourth album, Apocalypse Whenever on January 28, 2022. Conceived as “the soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t yet exist,” the 13-track album, was helmed by longtime producer Eric Palmquist (Mutemath, Thrice).

Bad Suns formed in 2012 and consists of Christo Bowman, Gavin Bennett, Miles Morris, and Ray Libby. They have released three albums. The first two, Language & Perspective in 2014 and Disappears Here in 2016 were via Vagrant Records. The band's third album Mystic Truth was released by Epitaph in 2019.

Their sound is inspired from 1970s and 1980s post-punk pioneers like The Cure and Elvis Costello. Bowman said, “I grew up with a lot of world music playing in the house. When I was ten, I started getting heavily interested in the guitar, and my dad began introducing me to his records from the ’70s and the ’80s. Initially Elvis Costello, then to The Clash, The Cure, and so on. All these artists and bands had a big impact on me, at a young age, as far as song composition goes. I started writing my first songs at that time, though we can now reflect on that era of music, those artists were ahead of their time in a lot of ways. That’s what’s most inspiring."

The band's breakthrough single "Cardiac Arrest" began in 2013 after they dropped a demo off at KROQ/Los Angeles, leading to airplay on "Locals Only" and their first label deal with Vagrant Records. Bad Suns has also ventured into film and television for the first time by performing Mark Knopfler’s score from the Quibi exclusive short film Home Movie: The Princess Bride in 2020.

Bad Suns are out on a headline tour beginning January 28th in Albuquerque and ending March 4th in San Diego.

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