Bleachers – “Secret Life”

Man, I wish Lana's part woulda been a lil more impactful. I keep waiting for some of these songs to be a lil happier/uptempo sounding but maybe that's not what he's goin' for this record.

 

Love this band, but this record is not doing anything for me.

 

Iyiyiyi always so much hope for this band but nothing has connected wit me since Strange Desire

 

Going to agree with the masses here. Strange desire was an 11/10. Gone now is a solid 8/9. All of these singles, I have no desire to revisit at all. Maybe it will hit me later.

 

Gone to me is a complete sophomore slump. What do you like about it? It's honestly is just a garbage record to me.

 

It’s a big step back from the immediate catchiness of SD, which is maybe a top 5 pop rock record of the 2010’s. But I like the layering and the way some songs are super lush, especially on good speakers and headphones.

Mickey Mantle, Good Morning, Money, Let’s Get Married, Everybody Lost Somebody and I Miss Those Days are really well crafted indie pop songs. I still don’t think one of them approaches the highs of anything on Strange Desire, but it’s a cohesive record and a guy who was trying to do something different. I respect it.

But if I am thinking of putting on any Bleachers tracks, I start the A side of Desire and just let it roll.

 

I respect that there area handful of songs that are solid maybe my expectations were too high. One thing that bothers me about the record is that I feel like I'm always struggling to understand what he's saying.

 

Damn I love Gone too.

this new record he was just goin for somethin totally…different. Not for me really. I love his production and Sonics from SD and Gone and he just kinda went the opposite way with this

 

Wife goes "Who are you listening to? It sounds like something from the 50's mixed with ::pauses:: I don't even know"

She is not a fan.

 

What’s most perplexing is that I think the hooks could be there and a lot of this is production choices that are so left field, they just obliterate the way the song is constructeded.

Even the most straightforward song on the record, “45,” suffers from it. That song with any of Jack’s drum, synth and guitar sounds from the last 10+ years is a radio hit. The vocal hook is tremendous, the lyrics are meme worthy in a good way and it is EASY TO SING, which helps! Instead, it sounds like a demo.

Perhaps (PERHAPS!) one day this record will be his version of NEBRASKA by the boss. And that was fine because fans grew to love that record - and he also came back with Born in the USA, which was one of the best, most timeless sounding records of the 80’s. Maybe that’s coming.