Sunbather is a phenomenal album. They’ve kinda sucked since then. I don’t know what you’d call their level of suckiness now. Actually New Bermuda was alright.
@Sonicpharmacist I think New Burmuda is fantastic and just as good as Sunbather. But that may be the time in my life when it came out. Neverless its a brillant fucking album. After that its been downhill.
Hot Take: They were never that great to begin with?
Sunbather is alright but they've always been more of a "Pitchfork" Metal band than a "Decibel" Metal band... and that is fine, each album brings them closer to Indie Rock stylistically. I bet their next LP will be their "back to basics" album.
I came to Deafheaven late (OCHL) so I don't represent a true fan who has followed them since the start. But as a huge shoegaze fan, I'm pretty psyched about their newer stuff, while also understanding the disappointment of many fans. The premature evaluation in Stereogum about the new album got me even more excited for it.