About halfway through and it’s got that punch that was extremely lacking on the last 2 albums. However, for the most part the lyrics ain’t it. Like there’s so much good energy here which I was craving … but ugh. The lyrics are horrible.
yeah, i'm probably around the same part as you ..... musically this is so far great, but god damn this man cannot write lyrics anymore. 'Fatherless' is a prime example. what the hell even is this song?
I would start and end with the lyrics on that one. I genuinely do not want any songs about the pandemic lol
I don't love it, mainly for the guitar part but it's far from his worst ever. Also I like a lot of the lyrics on here, there's some interesting ideas even if they're not quite on the same level as his peak stuff.
I don't really see any issues with the lyrics. Those are feelings pent up in a lot of people, especially in places like the UK where there were actually lockdowns and serious limitations on when people could leave their homes, what they could do, etc.
Overall I’m just left with a genuine shock of how this same guy wrote LI&S, EKMB, and TDH. The energy is back and these songs will probably be fun live so there’s that.
"Fatherless" sounds like an honest, if immature, accounting of how someone with a parent like that would feel. (Feelings I've had myself toward my own father.) I'm thinking of it as coming from a past place, reckoning and putting into words those feelings he once had and seems to be working through (see: "Miranda").
Yeah I totally get that and can understand why someone would gravitate towards them. I liked Sand in the Gears (at the time) despite it facing the same issue of being ridiculously too on the nose. But yeah I don’t know, I just don’t need any quarantine/pandemic songs haha
I get that, but there are also days I want to be able to go to a bar/club, have some beers, and scream along to some punk songs without a mask.
there is a lot to like here, which is nice to finally be able to say again. besides The Gathering I really enjoyed all the pre-release tracks, Resurrectionists probably being my favorite of the bunch. My favorites on the album are very, very easily the two songs seemingly for/about his wife, The Work & Little Life. When it started, i did not think i would like the ending track at all but, Farewell to My City is really really fun. I also think The Zeitbeast is so stupidly fun. He tries his best go at a Nebraska-era Springsteen song on The House Where I was Raised and it mostly works really well. gonna toss on the Eddie V album now but, looking forward to coming back to this one a lot this weekend to solidify thoughts.
This definitely seems like the same guy to me even if the songs aren't quite as eloquently written. Also I don't think the lyrics to The Gathering are that bad really but they also don't do much for me and I can see why people wouldn't really want to listen to a song that reminds them of the pandemic.
You are definitely correct on that. It’s the best song on this album. Oh don’t get me wrong … same lol
The Work is my favourite too and it's cool to get a love song from him from that perspective, I feel like a lot of this record is coming from looking back on certain things in his life which I find interesting. I think I like the closer more in theory than I actually do listening to it but maybe it'll grow on me. It's well done for sure.
The stretch from A Wave Across the Bay to Little Life is pretty solid. Oh bonus songs didn’t realize! I like The House Where I Was Raised. Feels like a proper acoustic ending
As someone who just last spring moved out of the city I spent my entire life in, "Farewell To My City" hits real hard. "The Zeitbeast" on the other hand . . .
Yeah, it had a fun sound but I just didn't really get it especially sandwiched between "Farewell To My City" and "The House Where I Was Raised". The sequencing on this feels a bit off though, especially on the front half.