Beach Bunny - The Early Days: Animalism, Pool Party, Crybaby [2LP Colored]

The Early Days gathers Beach Bunny's first three EPs, Animalism, Pool Party and Crybaby, onto two colored LPs, a snapshot of Lili Trifilio before the rest of the world caught on.

Trifilio started Beach Bunny in Chicago in 2015 as a solo bedroom project, self-releasing these short, sharp collections between 2015 and 2017 while a full band slowly took shape around her. The songs travelled fast online, won a fiercely loyal following and laid the groundwork for everything that came after, from the breakout Prom Queen EP to the albums Honeymoon and Emotional Creature.

What stands out is how fully formed her voice already sounds. "6 Weeks" lands with the bruised, catchy candour that became her signature, while "February" and "July" turn small heartbreaks into big, singalong choruses. "Boys" keeps things brisk and clear-eyed, over almost before you've caught your breath.

The recordings are lo-fi and unpolished, guitars a little fuzzy and vocals right up front, which suits songs about anxiety, crushes and the strange limbo of your late teens and early twenties.

For anyone who arrived with the later records, this is the origin story told in order, and for the fans who were there from the start it puts thirteen early songs together on one handsome double set.