A few years ago, Big Bliss weren’t making music many beyond Brooklyn’s underground rock scene necessarily deemed “cool” by trends ongoing in the independent world at large. The arrival of their second studio effort has a title to it that almost feels like fulfilling a prophecy that defies all of that, however, as we’re beginning to witness listeners coming of age to what is now considered a revival of “college rock” influence in the amplified sounds of Sonic Youth, R.E.M., Hüsker Dü, and a ton of unearthed niche ’90s indie shoegaze bands beyond the usual My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive tangents. For their part, Big Bliss are reverent of early R.E.M., New Order, and Bob Mould’s post-Dü project, Sugar, and C86, but there’s also a very New York City indie rock and post-punk bloodstream running through their DNA in the way their twilight sound recalls early imperial eras of Interpol and the National, bridging eras past with a more recent reference point and their ongoing future. In that respect, the band of brothers in guitarist and vocalist Tim Race and drummer Cory Race alongside new bassist Rose Blanshei and guitarist Dan Peskin returning to the fold with their first album since their 2018’s debut LP, At Middle Distance, is timely in multitudes, even if the circumstances that got them here were rife with misfortune and grief. Members left, the Race brothers lost their father, struggles with sobriety were had, and a pandemic left these wounds open in their seclusion. It’s all documented with an unquestionable earnestness in Tim Race’s lyricism, and because the prism which rock refracts in their sound has the ability to awaken urgency and wash over you like the duality between bright light and warmer glows, there is an essence of purity in how these songs move into you. If rock music found during a certain era of life was meant to be a spiritual experience connecting emotions to memories and an undying effortless coolness, Big Bliss have found a secret door to it that will always remains open if you choose to return.

Highlights: “Tether”, “Tell Me When You’re Ready”, “Vessel”

Big Bliss’ Vital Return will be released August 18th on Good Eye Records.

Buy | Stream