Oblivions

My brain mixes up shabby and shaggy all the time.

In hindsight, Lucky and Astronomy were dips for me. I thought YKNWYA was a more textured version of Astronomy and I liked it more. 

This single is the most ‘experimental’ and shabby thing they’ve done since some of the demos and b-sides for Weight is a Gift. The talking part is the most awkwardly sincere thing they’ve done since Proximity Effect too (on top of being a fun nod to Popular), IMO. I’m excited by the idea of a shabbier, less tight Nada Surf after two albums of really really tight guitar ditties.

"We tried to get XYZ label to press XYZ album and let them know the passionate fan base we've curated for that album but, alas, they would not...so instead here is a brand new copy of the Orwell's debut album on limited edition clear vinyl!"

I think the idea is you give them $5,000 and then they figure out what it is they can get away with without getting sued.

3EB have been delusional and extravagant in a fun, dumb way since the very beginning, so releasing a trap-inspired hip hop song is kind of on brand. 

The way I see it, S/T through Out of the Vein are straight up, sincere efforts of dumb, fun music. Ursa Major was a bit of a shallow attempt to replicate the 3EB sound and stay alive as a band that was in zombie, legal-battle mode and it trails a bit behind. Dopamine is a weirdly straight-forward and timeless, self-contained rock record that bought the band a second wind. Everything since then has been a hodge podge of decent/embarassing songs that are all pretty fun to listen to (even 2x Tigers) if you are OK singing along with and/or laughing at Stephen Jenkins.

Final part of my essay is to echo the Pitchfork review and say SJ deserves some credit for trying to make something worthwhile. Listen to that new Sugar Ray record or any of the pivot-to-country records from 90s alt-rock bands (Nine Days, Lit, Stain'd front man dude) and then listen to 3EB and hear the difference between phoning it in and being delusional enough to still put effort into what you do.

It’s my second least favorite, in front of Ursa Major, but it’s still fun and I’ve been listening to it non-stop. The slick pop production and slight tweak away from their guitar focus rubbed me wrong at first but this is packed with those 3EB ear worm melodies and Stephen Jenkins’ satisfying delusion. I just think Dopamine and OOTV had better 3EB power and I give them extra points for being committed, focused rock records, so it’s a thumb up even if it’s near the bottom for me.

That covers 7" is actually pretty rad. It was a tour only release and was going for $100 on Discogs until a month ago or so when Beck added it to his web store.

50 minutes ago, Fowty Dollaz said:

Never had a problem with them, myself. Actually, their records are usually packed like tanks, so I'd expect few problems to begin with. I hope this stays readily available. Good chance Dead Oceans or BOCC webstores might have something too. Just not yet. 

I was literally refreshing POS and Zia. 

I have too and it was fine and I know not everyone gets the bad experience, even with very bad retailers with much worse reputations. I was just thinking aloud as my time, energy, and purchases are more limited these days and the potential for a bad customer service experience feels more daunting when you're no longer in your prime vinyl buying shape. 😊

I saw that a second ago but I'm not ordering from POS. Their return/damage terms are dumb and I've heard about the owner/mailorder dude being a jack wagon when people need help with orders. I'll grab this elsewhere someday or settle without it.

Sold out apparently. Bummer.

Not fully on topic but what are the best LTJ albums post-Anthem? I dig everything before Anthem and like Anthem OK but I stopped paying attention and it feels like they’ve released 10 albums since then with zero press or reaction I’ve seen.

The National is the only release I want. Gonna have to pay someone to grab that for me or buy it from flippers, I’m sure.

Cynical side of me is wondering whether the announcement of the next 3 AOTMs and the decision to remove month-to-month accounts are signs they're bracing for the upcoming recession that many are predicting for the end of the year. It seems like they're trying to gain as much locked in profit as possible over the next year or two, at the risk of losing short term profits.

YES. Lost Wisdom is one of my personal favorites from that crew.

Please let that tape set be pressed in abundance. I do not want to expend unnecessary amounts of money and time trying to track down a copy.

House of Sugar is his first killer album, IMO. Instead of circling and meandering around an idea, he hits it head on and packs all the power into a tighter, more efficient package. It *is* less effortful which can read as 'light' or 'lacking' on the first or second pass but it's a masterful album. Once it sinks in, every song becomes an ear worm and each choice hits with precision. I might still prefer his lo-fi indie rock stuff and how it translates live but, of the 'proper studio' albums, this is the first one that realizes the potential he flashed on those 'killer tracks' on Rocket and Beach Music. Stick with it.

Just stack all your 7” box set versions of albums on your coffee table and wait for the enrapturing conversations to start.

12 hours ago, gutterball1 said:

1) didn't they just release 2 albums?  do they ever stop making albums?  and 2) why put up a pre-order 9 months before release? 

Weezer is essentially 3 different bands now, all called Weezer and featuring the same members. Rivers just cranks out a ton of rock, pop, and nightmare studio atrocity songs and saves them in a different folder until each gets to 10-12 songs.

As far as the long pre-order lead in, I think Weezer probably haven't finished the album but wanted to join GD and FOB on the synced release date scheme. I'm assuming the posted release date is worst case scenario and it actually gets released way before then once they finish the album.

I didn’t fully pay attention until a year or so ago after I saw him live. I *love* the live versions of his songs. He hasn’t captured that on any studio record so far but, from that catalogue, I dig Trick/DSU/Rules the most. Beach Music and Rocket have maybe more ‘mature’ songwriting but it’s not as consistent or interesting to me.

I know AI gets love from a lot of Green Day fans but, the moment I heard the first singles, I knew I was listening to a very different thing than whatever 1,039 to Warning Green Day was. I don't even think I dislike that record. It just feels like a different band doing something else that I wasn't that interested in. My little brother loved AI for like a summer before he became a proper metal head. Lol.

I like the idea that their post-Warning career is one big fuck you to the super fan who stole the master tapes for their unreleased Insomniac-sounding follow up to Warning. “You stole our sequel to Insomniac and now you’ll never hear good new Green Day music ever again.”

The cringe-worthy intro riff is cringe-worthy but the chorus and verses are EWBAITE/White level fun. I'm cautiously paying attention to this one.

Does this Green Day band have anything to do with the 90s band Green Day that broke up after their final album Warning? Cause that band was pretty good and this is not pretty good.

Now it's $5 cheaper than when I bought it this morning. Rad!

Hot damn. I bought a used copy of Can't Slow Down for $40 three or four years ago and I thought that was pricey. Those Discogs prices are nuts.