Album Review: Sunburn | Dominic Fike
Please name the deluxe Aloe Vera
As we are both recovering from Sunburns ourselves, digging through the latest album from Dominic Fike is a truly immersive experience. It feels like July heat, sunscreen that won’t stick, and pain from the burn. Don’t worry, there’s even some relief and moments of cooling on this album too. (Thank you aloe!)
Before we dive in, let’s take a step back and look at Dominic’s career to see how we got to Sunburn. Dominic Fike started making music during high school in southern Florida. At that time, his music mainly reflected the Soundcloud rap scene that was beginning to take center stage in the industry. Elements of XXXTentacion, Ski Mask the Slump God & Kodak Black dominated in South Florida and were the primary sources of inspiration for Dominic’s early rap days.
Eventually, after various legal troubles, including time served, Dominic began dialing in the versatile pop/rock/rap sound he’s become known for. His efforts paid off in 2018 with the song 3 Nights (900 million Spotify streams and counting) from his debut EP recorded while on house arrest. The release of the EP, along with Fike’s versatile, adaptable style, led to him inking a 4 million dollar recording contract with Columbia.
Since then, Fike hasn’t quite reached the pinnacle of his elusive record deal. Once primed as the next big thing in music, he has yet to find success on the Billboard Charts; his only entry to date is his feature on Justin Bieber’s Die For You. Most notably, Fike’s career has made him best known for his ventures outside of music, as he’s also one of the stars of HBO’s Euphoria.
Fike followed up his EP with his first full-length album, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?, which debuted at #41 on the Billboard 200 in July 2020. Granted, a lot was going on during that time, but there isn’t a track song with more than 100 million streams on the record. Dominic did find some streaming success with the collaborative single Phone Numbers with Kenny Beats.
On his second album, Sunburn, Dominic gives us his coming-of-age story, telling stories from when he was a kid and how they turned him into who he is today. A press release surrounding the album describes the album as consisting of songs about heartbreak, regret, addiction, sex, and jealousy. These themes and some of the catchiest pop-vocal production available make up an excellent indie-pop record.
Check out our favorite tracks, listen to the album, and see our scores below:
Can’t Miss: How Much Is Weed?, Dancing In The Courthouse, Frisky,
You Can Skip: What Kinda Woman
BY THE NUMBERS
Bennett’s Score: 7.67
Carson’s Score: 6.67
Album Score: 14.33
Also - we’ve updated our All-Time Album Rankings page. Stay tuned for more updates with the overall songs coming soon!
Here are our all-time top albums featured on Pop Lobster.
Funk Wav Bounces, Vol 1 | Calvin Harris | Score: 16.60
Speak Now | Taylor Swift | Score: 15.68
The Record | boygenius | Score: 14.48
Austin | Post Malone | Score: 14.41
**Sunburn | Dominic Fike | Score: 14.33**
Endless Summer Vacation | Miley Cyrus | Score: 14.00
Barbie The Album | Various Artists | Score: 13.88
Gag Order | Kesha | Score: 13.77
Utopia | Travis Scott | Score: 12.79
The Album | Jonas Brothers | Score: 12.67
Stick Season | Noah Karan | Score: 12.43
Notes from Bennett:
Dominic has been one of my comfort artists since the release of What Could Possibly Go Wrong? As a big fan of Kenny Beats (a now longtime collaborator of Fike’s), I was put onto his talent with 2019’s Phone Numbers & Later Hit Me Up with Omar Apollo. What I personally like about Dominic’s music is his vocal harmonies and his use of his vocals as an instrument. (Listen to 10x Stronger & Dominic’s Interlude off of Halsey’s 2020 Manic.)
Sunburn is highly anticipated for me, and initially, the singles made me extremely nervous. I was not a fan of either Antpile or Dancing In The Courthouse on first listen but in the context of the whole album, these are two major standouts. I love how the guitars sound with Dominic’s vocals on Antpile and the unique chorus structure that adds a ton of character to the track.
Sick is like a cool-weird version of the iCarly theme song. I know that is so left field but please, give it a chance.
I was THRILLED to see some awesome collaborations on this album, reuniting with Kenny Beats for Mona Lisa as well as linking up once again with my queen of indie, Ms. Remi Wolf on Bodies was special.
Notes from Carson:
As I am recovering from a Sunburn myself, digging through this album is a truly immersive experience. It feels like July heat, sunscreen that won’t stick, and aloe treatment.
My main complaint is that this album does not flow well. Good songs but not a good cohesive record. For example. Mama’s Boy is such a scary, intense sound and there’s no flow on the trackless. The outro is so brilliant turning from something childish and playful to somehow creepy.
The background “WooooHOOOOO’s” on Frisky sound just like he is impersonating the WeeeeHOOOO on Gwen Stefani’s The Sweet Escape
Remi Wolf Stans!!! Make sure you check out Bodies for a Remi background vocal appearance.
Some songs here really feel half-baked and like original demo’s. 4x4 in example I think could use some fleshing out. I really want to like Sick but I also feel like it could use another verse. Pasture Child I want to enjoy but also feel like it lacks any substance it has a fun instrumental but he’s not really saying anything on this track. I feel the same way about 7 Hours and What Kind of Woman. Now that I think about it this HAS to be intentional for so many of the songs to feel unfinished.
Where Dominic really shines is when he gets introspective. Tracks like Sunburn and Dark highlight his ability to dive into his insecurities and regrets and provide the listener with some actual substance about who he really is.
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