Note: First Spin is a new series that aims to provide an initial response to a recent work.
The first few bars of Sunset Funeral paint a vivid tapestry of the Rio Grande Valley, from which the shoegaze-inspired group Glare emerges.
Like the thick, hot air of their home state, this record carries a relentless weight that attests to the power of the South Texas sun.
Released on April 4, Sunset Funeral arrives just in time to offer a soundtrack for the coming heat.
Akin to the climate, the band’s debut full-length album—issued under Deathwish Inc. and Sunday Drive Records—leaves little room for reflection as it pounds down on the listener.
Instead, the persistent force of the work can draw the mind into a meditative state, if the listener is willing to be taken on that journey.
I was elated to accept, even though the group’s sonic aesthetic does not align with my personal preferences at the moment.
Each song on Sunset Funeral is anchored by a steady tempo, driven by the open drums and an accompanying landscape of distorted, reverberated guitars. The instruments bask in the low brush, glowing red rocks and winding river of the Rio Grande Valley as the record’s vocals—bathed in a layer of effects—are rendered barely comprehensible beneath the mass of the accompanying instruments.
From its opening drum fill to its closing strum from an acoustic guitar, the record blankets the senses, leaving the mind so overwhelmed that its only reprieve is to drift, aimlessly, like a tumbleweed.
