Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties - Routine Maintenance (May 10, 2019) Album • Page 6

And he doesn't want to wait another 5 years which is cool

 

Anyone else like the live/video version of "Bloodied Up In A Bar Fight" better than the studio version?

 

I haven't heard the live version but it's my least favourite song on the album by far

 

I dooooo

I think the vocals don't sound good on this album? Have thought that since the first single dropped, and when I'm listening to the album there's a groove I can fall into where I don't mind too much, but I think Dan is capable of much better vocal takes.

 

I actually love the song a lot, but I keep wishing it were this version instead.

 

There's definitely a couple of parts on the record that I felt the vocals could've done with being more prominent. I don't know if that's my shitty car speakers or not, but I definitely remember thinking that when listening this morning, particularly on that song.

 

Just listened to it haha, yeah I prefer this too.

Lol at the guy in the comments that doesn't realise Aaron is a fictional character

 

The first Aaron West show I went to, after the “I’ll be the town drunk” line in “Grapefruit,” a guy near me turned to his friend and said “I thought Soupy was straightedge. I guess that changed.” They both seemed very confused by the fictional character thing.

 

The title track broke me.

 

Saw Aaron at his first UK show in 2015 when TWY were over for Slam Dunk, and I just realised recently that at the endwhen he said something like "I don't have much merch, just some records and t-shirts in a suitcase" that it was probably an in-character thing lol

 

Only listened to Runnin Towards the Light before release. Listened two times so far.

It seems disjointed and the sequence just seems off musically. Everything just flowed on the last one. It almost seems like a collection of individual songs. Maybe that’s the point. Production wise Runnin just seems too loud to fit in sonically with the other tracks.

I agree lyrics are tough to make out. The chorus on the opener is the roughest.

Story wise I think it did a good job of naturally branching beyond Diane. Liked the focus more on Aaron as a person. The dude just can’t catch a break, but that was to be expected. Thought the last song was great and agree that it would be a satisfying end to the project.

Overall I just wish the album didn’t sound as muddy and disjointed. Maybe over time I’ll get past that.

 

It may just be coincidence but I think it’s a neat touch that Aaron gets his guitar fixed in “Wildflower Honey” and the person that fixes it says he can’t beat on his fretboard as hard as he does and then the songs that follow feature less acoustic guitar like Aaron took that advice to heart

 

This is such a great record but the production is really a bummer—mix especially is all over the place.

 

Some of the lyrics don’t seem to flow with music at all for me on quite a few songs in the first half. Not so much on the latter half though.

 

Actually wild to me that Dan can still write a song as good as Runnin’ Toward the Light after 5 TWY albums, an Aaron West LP, and a handful of EPs here and there over the past ten years. What a career this man has had.

 

I love this album.

 

Dan could literally burp into a microphone and it'd end up on my AOTY list. It's remarkable how consistent almost every single thing he releases is.

 

very keen to check this one - absolutely loved the last one and Runnin Scared, St Joe and Divorce are easily some of his best songs. anything on here live up to that level?

 

Love this whole album after two listens, but those last four songs are really incredible

 

Rosa & Reseda is up there for me. It acts for me kind of like a “slice of life” song with a hopeful & sad message to it.

Runnin’ Toward the Light (if you haven’t listened to any singles) is insanely catchy and rocks.

I need to spend more times with this album but it definitely is a worthwhile second chapter and leaves excitement for a conclusion.

 

I think the last 3 songs are the best Aaron West songs at this point, they rank highly amongst his entire catalog imo. Winter Coats in particular hit me like a freight train. When I said earlier I had a hard time listening to this again after my first listen it wasn’t just like hyperbole, I haven’t had a song make me cry that hard in a long time.

Ofc mileage may vary but just in terms of the music I think they’re stylistically a nice change of pace and are more the kind of songs I had in mind when he first announced this project, the Weakerthans and Mountain Goats influence really shines throughout and especially on those last 3 songs.

 

Very glad this project continues, enjoy this more than the last Wonder Years album.

 

Listened today on a shitty Bluetooth speaker and it sounded better than in my car. Weird. Still love Runnin but it feels so out of place after Wildflower Honey.

The last two songs are really just unbelievable. Picking up on additional possible references. In Winter Coats, The idea that he had to go back to the church where they buried his dad and possibly his child is just so powerful. I can picture the scene so vividly where his nephew pops up with him at the organ.

I honestly think that this project is such an accurate depiction of what could happen to someone who loses a child. We have friends who lost their child a few days before he was due and they are just shells of themselves months later.

To see him take to his nephew and step up so to speak in raising him, even though that is likely incredibly hard for him, is just a testament to how much depth Dan gave Aaron. He’s gonna make it.

 

yesss give me all the Weakerthans influence!

 

I’m purposely not reading my lyric book because I want to pick up more and more with every listen. This entire scene and part of the story didn’t hit me until 3-4 listens in as I sometimes struggle making out lyrics instantly. I then caught the “her husband is really sick” part earlier on the album. It allllll made sense.

It hits me hard as every single funeral I attend it’s always the SAME one in my town and I always have to go back.

I enjoy how Dan is obviously writing about a fictionalized person, but still finds those small details we all can relate to in our own lives. He’s always been exceptional at that. Even something small like “swimming in the ocean on my birthday” got a grin out of me.