Album Review: Dark Fun

Somewhere between indie rock, post-punk and shoegaze, New Zealand band Window creates melodic noise-rock that refuses to stay inside any one genre. They favour loud amplifiers over algorithms, real-world collaboration over scrolling, and songs built by humans rather than software. The result feels equal parts chaotic and carefully crafted.

Dark Fun is the band’s third album, and it wears its rough edges with pride. It is the musical equivalent of finding a shortcut, taking a wrong turn, and somehow ending up somewhere even better.

The line that first caught my attention came from fellow Kiwi band False Waltons, who described Window as “White-Boys With Problems making music for White-Boys With Problems”. It’s funny, self-aware and probably closer to the truth than the band would like to admit. The thing is, beneath the humour sits a group of genuinely talented musicians who clearly enjoy pushing ideas around until something unusual appears.

Window is built around Marcus McRury and Damian Zelas, who share guitar and vocal duties. Damian has spent years building pedals, electronics and generally avoiding the path of a normal human being. Alongside bassist Marcus Thomas, the trio shifts between melody, noise and experimentation without losing sight of the song.

The album opens with the title track, Dark Fun, and one of the record’s biggest surprises. The band admit traditional song structures aren’t always their thing, yet here they are with an actual chorus. It works brilliantly. Dreamy guitars drift across the track while the melody latches onto your brain. There is a strong 90’s alternative rock flavour, with hints of skate culture, LA rock and lazy summer afternoons baked in.

The energy stays high as Fall Into The Flow arrives next. Short, sharp and bursting with enthusiasm, it leaves little room for overthinking. The bright guitar tones sparkle while the vocals remain front and centre. At just over two minutes, it’s only a few seconds longer than Blur’s Song 2, and feels just like that song: a complete journey rather than a sprint to the finish line.

The band lean further into their experimental tendencies on Tick In The Box. The opening feels dramatic and unpredictable, with guitars, drums and effects all trying to reach the finish line first. The lyrics don’t tell a neat story, but that’s part of the appeal. Window treat the voice as another instrument. At times the guitars and drums seem to be having an argument, but thankfully they’re arguing in the same key.

The mood changes with Back In The Sandpit, while the band’s identity stays intact. The lyrics feel more direct and emotional here, creating images that many New Zealand listeners may find surprisingly familiar. Whether it’s about returning home, revisiting childhood memories or reconnecting with a place you thought you’d left behind, there’s something nostalgic hiding beneath the surface. It wouldn’t surprise me if this becomes a favourite for many listeners.

The artwork across Window’s three albums doesn’t really follow a single visual style. Dark Fun features a small plastic bear sitting in an almost cave-like darkness. At first, it looks playful, but the longer you look at it, the more it starts to feel like something from a low-budget horror movie, making it perhaps the most fitting cover of the three. Understand Your Alien used driftwood with its letters arranged like a visual puzzle, while Dopamine Glances featured a colourful long-exposure image awash with sunset tones. None of them look like they belong together, yet each one somehow captures the mood of the album it represents. Much like Window’s music, there is a bit of chaos involved, but it all just seems to fit. An album’s greatest strength is its variety. While Dark Fun remains rooted in alternative rock, the songs rarely stand still long enough to become predictable.

Gulls is a perfect example. Every album seems to have one track that makes you unconsciously push a little harder on the accelerator during a road trip. Gulls is that song. It has movement, urgency and enough momentum to make the horizon feel slightly closer than it really is. If this one comes on while driving through Aotearoa on a sunny afternoon, don’t blame me if you arrive ten minutes early.

Things slow down with Lesser Than You, and there’s a little more room to breathe. The tune is easy to latch onto, and it’s a welcome reminder that Window doesn’t need to make a racket to keep me listening. There’s still enough happening towards the end to keep things interesting, without spoiling the quieter mood.

Virus Intent may be one of the album’s most intriguing moments. Listening to it in 2026 brings back memories of the strange years not so long ago, though it feels broader than any single event. The voice takes on an almost artificial personality, which adds to the oddness. Just when I think I’ve settled into it, off it goes again. It changes direction so often it would probably fail a driving test yet somehow arrives exactly where it needs to be. I’m not sure what virus was the inspiration, or if it was even data or biological, but either way it gives a personality to something that most of the time just is there to annoy us.

For the album’s most approachable moment, there’s Forever. If any track on Dark Fun has the potential to sneak onto alternative radio playlists, this might be the one. The melody is immediate, the structure familiar and the hooks strong. Yet even here the band’s quirky personality remains intact. There is still a sense of dissatisfaction, awkwardness and slightly stubborn charm bubbling underneath the surface.

The album closes with VW T3 Fastback, which has quickly become one of my favourite song titles of the year. I imagine a battle-scarred old van carrying guitars, basses, amplifiers, effects pedals and several sleep-deprived musicians from gig to gig across the country. The song itself feels like the perfect ending, embracing the band’s love of experimentation while delivering enough melody to leave a lasting impression. If this song doesn’t make you want to own an old van held together by stickers, rust and optimism, nothing will.

These songs feel discovered rather than manufactured. Window seem happiest following ideas wherever they lead, even if that means taking the scenic route. Sometimes the destination is a huge chorus. Sometimes it’s a wall of noise. Most times it’s somewhere in between.

By the end, the chaos feels less like confusion and more like a destination. Before long, you find yourself pressing play again, partly to hear your favourite moments and partly to figure out what just happened the first time around.

Dark Fun is clever without being pretentious, experimental without disappearing completely into the weeds, and catchy enough to keep pulling you back for another listen. It might not make everything make sense, but that’s half the fun.

There isn’t a lot of information floating around online about upcoming Window performances, which somehow feels perfectly in character for a band that would rather make music than feed social media algorithms. Hopefully they’re planning a few summer appearances, because after spending time with Dark Fun, I’d happily swap my headphones for a live set. These songs feel built for loud amplifiers, a crowded venue, and the kind of controlled chaos that only really makes sense when you’re standing right in front of it.