Kevin Bronson on August 12th, 2015

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“Soaked,” the new single from Sun Drug, is a fever dream-meets-anxiety attack constructed from menacing synth and lacerating guitars, with singer Steven Wilkin jabbing lyrically about permanence, “wasted ways” and personal renewal. All while “we wait for the city to shake,” as if their Los Angeles home base isn’t doing so already. The bone- and brain-rattler is the latest sensory assault from Wilkin, Collin Desha, Taylor Brown and Cameron Dmytryk, the gang of four ex-members of Vanaprasta who have indeed found renewal on their new EP. To review: The quartet spent much of last year workshopping with singer-songwriter Rocco DeLuca, eventually starting from scratch and recording a batch of new songs in Desha’s home studio. While it may be surprising, given the conditions, that their new songs sound so stadium-ready, it is no shock, given their history, that Sun Drug continues to push into the avant-garde. Fans of Muse and other FM radio giants might want to push along with them.

||| Stream: “Soaked”

||| Previously: “Easy in Your Attitude,” “Wildman”