Wish I could catch them when they come over to the UK. The closest date to me is on a Monday, damn work ruining everything.
It was clearly not a serious post, but well done. Honestly, I just listen to it, and nothing grabs me, at all. Nothing makes me actually pay attention. I just find it boring. Maybe uninspired was a slightly strange choice of words, but I just know this band is capable of something that, to me, feels less safe and plain than this. Again, I really sincerely hope I change my mind on this over time, but the last two albums haven't left me with much hope.
After listening to this album a few more times I would have to say "it matters" is my top track. The guitars in the second verse are amazing.
It Matters and Pol Roger are the ones sticking out to me at the moment. Pol Roger reminds me of early Death Cab a bit in the verses.
Safe? There are tons of "risks" on this record that are totally different than anything they've done before. Just because you don't like the songs doesn't mean they're safe or uninspired. It could just mean it's not what you were looking for from this band at this time, and that's not necessarily a bad thing... but to place the blame on the artist for creating something 'safe' when it's clearly new territory for them is kind of strange imo
Excited to listen to the Chorus.fm podcast and then listen to this album immediately afterwards tonight. I put it on (the album) in the car when I was coming back from the Brand New show on Friday and it was a great experience. Cruising down the highway at 1am while Pass The Baby/Get Right were playing made me feel like the coolest kid in school.
I went last night and it was one of the best shows I've ever been to. Pass The Baby live was out of this world...they lost it during the breakdown and every Integrity Blues track really, really stood out and it's going to make me come back to the album even harder. The intensity and passion these guys bring to their live show are why they are so special to me, and you could tell everyone was having a blast last night. Love. This. Band.
Right now I think Through is my favorite. I love the verse chord progression and that chorus hook is wiiiiiild.
Also listening to the album for the first time and then immediately listening to the Chorus podcast was a blast.
While Pass the Baby is not individually a great song, it serves as a pretty great transition track from the first half of the album to the second. The sequencing on this album is pretty much as good as it gets imo.
"pol roger" is pretty easily my third favorite closer from these guys behind "23" and "dizzy". it's a really, really, really great song
I actually hate reviewers that refuse to review stuff they don't like. At that point, what separates them from a publicist if they're just pushing out praise for everything? Are they even a critic?
That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying if you're going to review something, go into every review with an open mind. He flat-out doesn't like certain genres, like emo and pop-punk, and of course it's totally fine that he doesn't like those genres because that's his taste/opinion. He just intentionally reviews things he knows he can't be objective about just to trash them. That's not criticism, that's trolling and adds nothing of value to the general discourse. For example, you won't find me getting ready to see and write a review for Tyler Perry's Boo: A Madea Halloween because I think he's trash and those movies are trash and I can't be objective about them.