ALBUM REVIEW: Funland – This Will Destroy Your Ears

October 22, 2025 James Palaczky

Billed as a post wave/ rough pop act, THIS WILL DESTROY YOUR EARS return with their third outing with an intoxicating well-polished album. Not looking to waste any time, the band sets your heart racing with sublime opener Gorgeous Eve Holds A Banger Hammer. A fast-paced, defiant guitar riff greets us and marches forward with the rest of the band to scale an epic and atmospheric first chorus. Battle lines drawn and arms at the ready, the French three-piece waste no time in commanding your attention.

While they dip their toes into an array of sounds and interesting ideas, the genre of the record lands firmly within the indie rock court. At the risk of throwing a backhanded compliment, Stop That Wacky Show wouldn’t feel out of place on a FIFA soundtrack. But considering most of the album is a well-crafted electronic landscape ushering in a tempest of sonic ideas crashing into each other, it’s a lot more nuanced than any whiny TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB tune.

Jumping to Pill Pop Night, when lead singer Pierre-Johann stretches his vocal cords, it’s reminiscent of THE KILLERS’ Brandon Flowers with a preacher-like delivery. Backed up by clattering reverb-laden guitar riffs, you get the idea that the band have set out to explore the realm of indie rock but have intentionally sharpened the edges. It’s indie rock, and then some.

Despite the excellent execution, the band may have unknowingly shot themselves in the foot by showing their hand too early. The problem with touching the sky on the first track and stretching the possibilities of atmospheric rock is the album has nowhere to go and they trap themselves into a corner. Fatigued is a bit of a strong word, but with the relentless intensity maintained, you may find yourself longing for a change in approach.

That being said, there are a couple of welcome change-ups. Album highlight The Way It Goes sees a subdued stereo-muffled guitar trudging across the speakers while Pierre-Johann is accompanied by haunting harmonies. It’s moments like these the band allow themselves to explore different terrains and you start to yearn for tracks with a different angle to break up the album.

It isn’t until closing song Lost Our Track they mix it up again. Here a delicious fuzzy white noise distortion out of the NINE INCH NAILS playbook engorges the song while a melancholic vocal line lingers across the gradual build of intensity, culminating in an epic as it is warped finale to the album.

The brilliance with THIS WILL DESTROY YOUR EARS, is they morph all kinds of genres from noise rock to shoe gaze to indie riffs. By perfectly layering their catalogue of influences they avoid a stagnating and disjointed record. Although you want them to take a few more risks, the addictive energy and bold sound keep you coming back for more.

Rating: 7/10