MacDonals

When I read the description on Newbury Comics it said this was their third album and thought "wow that was a steep drop off in quality..."

Sounds like a perfect fit for this album. 😉

1- Harmlessness (10/10)
2- Whenever, If Ever (10/10)
3 - Illusory Walls (6.5/10)
4- Always Foreign (4/10)

Adele...

I know this is the state of things, but my this is going to make me scale down my pre-orders.

I know this is the state of things, but my this is going to make me scale down my pre-orders.

Two new songs up at midnight. Maybe official LP4 announcement later during the day Dec 9th?
 
Rare Symmetry & Fade Into You (ft. Miya Folick)
 

I came across this on Reddit from IMusic in Denmark. 
https://imusic.dk/vinyl/search?query=Daft+punk
 
Discovery: 2/18/22
 
Homework and Human After All: 4/15/22

An update! Just posted on Facebook: 
Hello, friends. Downward is Heavenward vinyl is now available through our Polyvinyl Records webstore along with Inlet. https://www.polyvinylrecords.com/store/hum We hope to have Electra 2000 and You’d Prefer an Astronaut available there in the not so distant future. That project is taking a little longer than expected, but both of those records are moving forward and we will share more information when it’s available. We hope you all are healthy and well. Thank you.

please don't share your opinion of the Hoffman forums unless you have all your gear listed in your profile so I can decide how serious you are and how to perceive your opinion. thx!
 
 

I'm with you on 100% of this.  Truly thought I was done with this band in 2021, but the singles [as I mentioned] were all better than anything I had heard on Always Foreign.  I don't think that this new one taps into the magic and atmosphere of their earlier stuff – especially Whenever, If Ever – but it does strike me as being its own animal.  And it's a feral one that isn't the docile snooze-fest that their last record was.
 
Off the bat, I do feel like we're getting 2 mini-albums in one, and that's a big part of the appeal to me.  The first 9 tracks – presumably the A/B – seem to me like they're a continuation of the band's evolution.  I do kind of like the bite that a lot of them have.  I think they're way less post-rock, cathartic, or dreamy like most of W,IE's soundscapes... and more like bigger, badder versions of Harmlessness' more direct cuts.  I thought I read that the main guitarist handled the production this time around?  It shows.  The guitar work is interesting and has some fantastic moments, but it also dips its toes a little too far into prog territory at times.  It's weird; I'm trying to get used to it.  Not quite masturbatory levels of technicality – they're not aping Dream Theater [yet] – but it's just not a sound I'd affiliate with TWIABP.  I would agree with anyone who may insist that the guitars (quite regularly) sound like they've been plucked right off of a new Coheed album.  Just not my bag.  But I do think that there are enough redeeming moments and elements to the songs that they're not a real deterrent, for me.
 
The last 2 tracks outshine the first 9 for me.  Even if the band decided they were going to write and record them just to appeal to the older fanbase... they got me.  I won't spoil too much but that closer really does encompass "the history of the band" or whatever that initial press release said.  There are elements [and even lyrics] from "simpler times" woven in there, making for a real throwback without just copy-pasting the exact songs from 2013.  I could see why some people may perceive it as lazy or cheap... drawing too deep from the well of 8 years ago, maybe?  But I enjoy it.  Feels like a snapshot of where the band came from, paying some homage to their roots while also crafting their own behemoth of a song in the process.  I would probably be more offended if this lineup just phoned it in and tried to regurgitate an abandoned sound that they didn't write in the first place, in an attempt to win back older fans.  For me, those last two tracks walk a nice line of blending new and old.  I think the extra time they put into writing those tracks really shows.
 
I'm curious to see what repeated listens may reveal and how the total package holds up.  But yeah... way better than anything this lineup has been up to in recent years.

I became very skeptical if this band could still make a good album. Derrick/Nicole (who was their major songwriter) left and attempted to cancel the band, then they put out the stinker album, Always Foreign. I thought I was done with them, but this album is fantastic. I may have to buy the record now.

Happy to see this finally getting pressed but disappointed they didn’t do something more elaborate for this - colored vinyl, additional tracks (this was a really prolific period for the band).  Fingers crossed for The Remote Part’s 20th next year they do something cool with that since it needs a reasonably priced repress anyway.

My copy of Kerplunk arrived as well and I'm convinced that it is legit and matches the runout detail from the original pressing found on Discogs. Pretty great eBay find!



 

I just really wish they'd repress the comps already.

My copy of Kerplunk arrived as well and I'm convinced that it is legit and matches the runout detail from the original pressing found on Discogs. Pretty great eBay find!



 

I must be in the wrong timeline.

You’re right - doing a google search for the eBay description for Kerplunk (I used "LK46LP - 763361904614" ) there are the exact same eBay listings from 2017 and 2018 (Here and here and a reddit post about it ), so it’s weird that they have this large unopened supply to sell at random times.  
 
Part of it makes sense that there’s unopened stock because it was the most popular lookout release in the late 90s so there’s likely a very large pressing(s) over the course of years.
 
I’m skeptical like you all, but I couldn’t find any issues with the 39/smooth copy.  It sounded great!  I’ll update with the kerplunk that’s in transit if someone hasn’t done it before me. 

Received my copy in the mail today, purchased when it was $25.  The matrix number and etching message, along with Berkeley address without barcode fits with 
https://www.discogs.com/Green-Day-39Smooth/release/368728
It was sealed in tight shrinkwrap. 

Hutch is about Scott Hutchison 😭

I must be in the wrong timeline.

I must be in the wrong timeline.

I must be in the wrong timeline.

I must be in the wrong timeline.

I must be in the wrong timeline.