“Kill the cliché / for a moment / and tell it like it is,” Beach Fossil’s Dustin Payseur sings on their latest album, Bunny, out June 2nd via Bayonet Records. produced by Payseur, the album, is one of the first Beach Fossil records where he has utilized the chorus structure, and each song hits pay dirt.

This is my first introduction to the New York City mainstay, and when I heard the first song, I was floored, and thought, the rest of the album must be downhill from here. But they are masters at creating simple but evocative dream pop that takes from The Cure and The Byrds, and every track on the album was pure bliss, the bare all, sometimes cut to the bone lyrics, notwithstanding.

The dreamy plucked guitar, the funky pop of bass, the wash of drums and Payseur’s golden voice all work together as a seamless team, to present songs about life in New York, partying or playing music or passing time, songs that are not at all filled with clichés, but heartfelt lyrics that would be relatable to many of their listeners. “Sometimes all you’ve really got is your friends / Sometimes you can’t even count on them.”

In realistic fashion, many of the songs are filled with alcohol, Ativan, cigarettes, melatonin, coffee, and capture the passage of time and the highs and the comforts that we seek, from friends, drugs, a much coveted moment of peace. “Anything is lost / Anything is free / Anything is anything / To me,” they sing on the song of the same title, recalling for me the playful and poignant poetry of Kurt Cobain.

It’s a gem of an album, and supremely re-listenable. Something that would wash a club in a starry light. “You’re such a waterfall / I’m standing in the afterglow,” they sing towards the end of the album, and that describes them perfectly. Their music is like water washing over you, cleansing you with their diaristic verbiage. I think that’s one of the biggest successes of the album. Payseur is describing his life in a way that I think that many people could relate to, in a cloud of light, a beautiful and transportive sound.

Pre-order Bunny by Beach Fossils HERE