ARTISTS TO WATCH: Sun + Flesh
Sun & Flesh
Fire
Everywhere I steady myself
I feel it burn me
It might burn you
It might make you feel
But being burned isn’t the only thing worth living for
I can always count on AbsolutePunk bands to bring the heat with their singles when they come my way, and Brooklyn’s own Sun + Flesh’s “Purge” is no different. This song is sonically as incendiary as the lyrics themselves, with Christoph Manuel leading the band in a frenetic, hook-filled search for mainstream success. The droning backing vocals hearken back to early Nirvana (“burning bright and take it slow” echoing the “all in all is all we are” mantra of “All Apologies”) but the brunt of the track is a sonic hybrid of modern rock and punk influences which manages to sound entirely original.
Their upcoming self-titled EP features “Purge” alongside four equally single-worthy tracks. “Breathe” features a more bone-crunching series of guitar riffs, along with screaming which echoes back to bands like Thrice, while “Open Flame” features fuzzed-out vocals and haunting guitar echoes to create a perfect into to another ear-bending rock hook. It all leads up to the magnificently addictive thunder of “Shades of Grey,” which breaks out the screams to all their full-throated effect. With mixing by Josh Wilbur (Lamb of God, Black Tide) and the deft production touches of Melissa Cross and Manuel himself, the EP is as expert a debut as you could expect from a rock outfit hitting the scene fully formed, ready to light the scene afire.
