ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Sunflower Bean

Photo by Driely S

This week’s ANCHR Artist of the Week goes to Sunflower Bean— a trio from NYC consisting of vocalist and bassist Julia Cumming (she/her), guitarist and vocalist Nick Kivlen (he/him), and drummer Olive Faber (she/they).

Sunflower Bean is one of those bands that seem like they were born in the wrong era because they have such an authentic and effortlessly classic sound, but I guess someone’s got to keep rock and roll alive for the next generation! Earlier this month, the band released their third album, entitled Headful of Sugar, as a follow up to 2018’s Twentytwo in Blue. The new album name acts as a metaphor for the constant consumerism, exposure to news and attachment to devices that runs through society— and the band says the album is for those outsiders who are disillusioned with the modern world. “We wanted to write about the lived experience of late capitalism, how it feels everyday, the mundanity of not knowing where every construct is supposed to ultimately lead you,” Nick Kivlen says. “The message is in the title: this is about fast pleasures, the sugar of life, the joy that comes with letting go of everything you thought mattered.”

Sunflower Bean teased the new record with several singles that showcased their versatility— for example, “Roll The Dice” features an enticing, slow fade in that leads to fuzzed-out guitar riffs and layered echoes of Kivlen’s and Cumming’s vocals, while “I Don’t Have Control Sometimes” kicks off with peppy vocalizations from Cumming and a punchy pop drumbeat. Talking about the latter song, Cumming says, “I’ve always thought that my reckless side was both a gift and a curse, leading me to my best choices on stage but my worst choices in life. I don’t have control sometimes is the admission, acceptance, and almost celebration of the parts of yourself that are impulsive or maybe even insane.” While this song is the band’s admission and acceptance of relinquishing control, they claimed full creative control with the making of Headful of Sugar— Olive Faber took on the role of engineering for the first time, and the recording was mostly done at home. “We didn’t have to rely on anyone outside of the band and our producer, Jake Portrait, to get Headful of Sugar made,” Faber says. “Self-sufficiency helped us tell the story we wanted to tell.” 

To celebrate the new music, Sunflower Bean is currently on tour, including a stop in Chicago at The Bottom Lounge on Friday, May 20th. See all of their tour dates here, and watch the video for “I Don’t Have Control Sometimes” below.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE

Photo by Peggy Fioretti

This week’s ANCHR Artist of the week goes to Philadelphia’s SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE, an experimental rock band that has been making music since 2014 with an array of band members. The band adopted their name from a 1973 Spanish film with the same title. With their eclectic and expansive sound that continues to push boundaries and evolve, we recommend them if you’re a fan of Squid, black midi, and Post Animal.

Currently, the SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE lineup consists of Zack Schwartz, Rivka Ravede, and Corey Wichlin— who all wear multiple hats for the band, contributing everything from vocals, keys, guitar, bass and drums. Most recently, the band put out their fourth studio album entitled ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH in 2021, which was released via Saddle Creek, but the first of their records that was self-recorded and produced. Schwartz says the process of recording the fourth album was completely different than the rush of making their third album Hypnic Jerks. "We had to record that in seven days, because that was the studio time we had, whereas ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH was made over the course of three, four months,” he says. Being made during pandemic times also meant the band recorded some of the material remotely, and had the time to dive deeper into multifaceted sounds and production styles.

The band describes the song “THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN'T DO” from ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH as being one showcases the growth they’ve undergone from their inception to current day. "This song draws on some of the sonic aesthetic of SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE's old records and aligns those sounds with the electronic instrumentation we've been exploring," Wichlin says.

When he first joined the group, Wichlin moved from Chicago to Philadelphia to join Ravede and Schwartz, so the band’s upcoming shows at Schubas on March 30th and 31st are partially a homecoming show. Hopefully you snagged your tickets for them already because they’re sold out, but keep an eye out for all upcoming events here.