Author: Ricardo Arriaga

Posted: Jun 13, 2025

The Casbah welcomes Sunflower Bean and GIFT in dreamy fashion. Two groups whose inception began in New York deliver a night full of dance, trance and glam in San Diego.

The opener GIFT, who is on the rise, delivered a fun psychedelic shoegaze sound that prompted me to dance leaving a weave of semblance to the '90s U.K. scene. Still on the ride from last year's release of their second album, Illuminator, they sound as if they have been touring for decades with their liberating flair they bring to the performance.

They played two unreleased tracks only found on their 7” single sold from their merch tour, known as Dreamhouse Part 1 + 2. GIFT transported the crowd, delivering a set full of hazy textures and driving rhythms in the intimate venue. Short but impactful, looking forward to their next project, their next tour and hopefully headlining it in the near future.

Sunflower Bean celebrate their fourth full-length album, Mortal Primetime, as their last leg of the US tour approaches.

Formed in 2013, Sunflower Bean quickly became a staple of Brooklyn's DIY scene. Composed of drummer Olive Faber, bassist/ vocalist Julia Cumming, and guitarist/ vocalist Nick Kivlen. The band became known for their genre defying sound but are always open to evolution, Sunflower Bean has remained dedicated to reinvention, refusing to be confined to a single identity or genre. Through it all, pandemics, personal upheaval, and everything in between Sunflower Bean has never wavered in their belief in both the music and each other.

Ahead of their latest release, Sunflower Bean dropped the raw and restless Shake EP in 2024—their first fully self-produced project. It marked a change: looser, louder, and totally unfiltered. If Shake was their taste for freedom, Mortal Primetime is what independence sounds like fully realized. With renewed clarity and confidence, the band tracked every song live ditching the polish for a back to basics approach, just the three of them.

Sunflower Bean hit the stage to a roar of excitement as they blasted off with their first single Champagne Taste from the new album. A return to their roots with a churning urgency into a distorted anthem of reclaiming oneself. Got the audience pumped for a heavy night as the next song transitions wonderfully on to Lucky Number from Shake. About four songs from their previous albums were performed. The early fan favorite Easier Said, a dream rock hit from their first album Human Ceremony, was mashed up with the psychedelic instrumental, Somebody Call a Doctor from their first EP to create a fuzzy early metal jam of an intermission.

We slow down with the hopeful/ heartwarming acoustic I Knew Love and the ballad There’s a Part I Can’t Get Back, an emotionally-charged song with a hint of lush and a rocking chorus. The waves from the swaying crowd left a wonderful feeling in the room to lead us with the warm nu-gaze Sunshine. A delight to have caught the albums duet closer live. Julia gave us the choice whether to act as if they are finished and wait for the crowd to cheer for the encore or jump straight into it with the energy we still had. Thunderous applause was their cue for a jolt of electric closers. The melancholic Nothing Romantic and the unhinged garage-rock frenzy of Shake.

Julia Cumming is a wonder to behold for her dynamic intensity, shifting effortlessly between self declarations and soft confessions. Nick Kivlen’s effortlessly smooth guitar lines and Olive Faber’s precision drumming provided a sturdy, expressive backbone. Sunflower Bean continues to be one of the most compelling live acts to witness and happy to catch their constantly evolving sound whenever they visit San Diego. And on that night an electric chemistry, a tight execution and the rare authenticity was on display.

📸/✍️: Ricardo Arriaga @aurorealis64