Really loving the album. A couple of the songs they released that I was a little iffy on work a lot better in context IMO. I feel like "Pretend" could be a massive hit even though I don't think it's one of the better songs on the album.
The merchnow pre-order download is only 192kbps... I'll definitely just wait for the CD for my first listen in that case. haha
I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I do but it's pretty excellent for the most part. "Untitled" is immediately one of my favorite songs of the year. Epic.
After a few listens, here's a couple early thoughts on the album: 1) Reminds me of the new Relient k album in that the front is kinda choppy (but every song is good on its own) and the back half feels very cohesive and is some of the best work they've done 2) Chariots is probably my favorite song they've ever done. I was hoping there was gonna be more like that song on the album because that was a really cool and new direction for them, but that's ok that there wasn't. I also think it would have worked really well if they used Blue Collar Daydream as the intro track to Chariots. Overall, I think this is gonna hold up really well. I was worried that 16 songs of Paper Route was going to get samesy or tiresome, but I think they did a really good job with that.
I mostly feel the same way, but I think there is quite a bit of filler on here. The front half of the album is excellent, but it seems like the second half lacks energy (Laugh About It excluded). Still a solid album, though.
Maybe I'm just boring these days, but I was actually pleasantly surprised at how many times the album stopped to catch it's breath. I feel like all my favorite albums have quite a few soft moments to break from the energy. Loving this thing more with each listen.
This is pretty much definitely going to be in my top 10 for the year. Gets better each listen. During the four years between The Peace of Wild Things and this I lost a lot of interest in the band, but I'm falling in love all over again.
I went into this with super low expectations. I think it was because the band just fell off the planet for a while. I finally got around to checking it out this past weekend and it's easily, I think, the best pop album this year. I know Chariots gets a love of praise, but Mona Lisa is a huge song.