I’ve been running around in circles, pretending to be myself. Why would somebody do this on purpose when they could do something else?
Reading everyone's rankings makes me really want to defend the song Halloween. I wouldn't say it is my favorite of the bunch, but it certainly in no way stood out to me as a weak link in any way whatsoever or as less great than the other songs. The line about being able to count on you to tell me the truth when you've been drinking and you're wearing a mask is a fantastic line. Plus, it's fun to hear Conor.
The Gaslight Anthem song ‘Halloween’ is my favorite ‘Halloween’ also, i agree - it’s not a weak song. Good lyrics per usual, just zone out due to the arrangement imo. It’s a testament to the rest of the record that it’s my least favorite track here.
Is it awful to say that I don’t care for Conor’s voice?? I love Phoebe but had trouble with BOCC for that reason. I’ve never listened to Bright Eyes though so maybe that would be different.
like 9 years ago if you told me Conor would have aged the best out of all the 90s/00s singer-songwriters i grew up on, I’d not have believed it lol but i don’t like a single Death Cab song written in the past decade, Isaac Brock is a sleazebag, James Mercer has been boring as shit, and I’m lukewarm on Jenny Lewis’s solo stuff. Conor rocks.
Giving this album an 8.7 (not saying it doesn’t deserve it) really throws into contrast how weak the 7.0 review was for STIA. Same goes for Julien’s records. Pitchfork was so behind the ball on the boygenius crew.
I don't care much for pitchfork reviews, but 7 for the first album and 8.7 for this one seems fair enough to me
As a side note - The packaging for this vinyl should be the benchmark for vinyl releases from now on. Gatefold, coloured vinyl and the most beautiful lyrics book i've ever seen All of those bands releasing £20 records with no lyrics on standard black vinyl should be ashamed
Some friends of mine (multiple people, independent of each other) in Portland’s music scene complain about his bar’s practice of serving alcohol to underage girls/him specifically being a creep there before it was shut down. Also that it contributed to the gentrification in the neighborhood it was in.