This release was probably done and locked in far before the allegations - not necessarily an excuse but probably a pain in the ass to void a contract etc etc
I highly suggest their Untitled album. It's waaaaay more harsh than ULTRAPOP, but I love it so much. Just punches to the face for 40 minutes straight.
for sure. it has been done before, however annoying it is, though. and i get their brand is mostly radio silence outside of album cycles, but it's pretty annoying they haven't commented on it at all (nor have several others on the roster). just a bad vibe.
Are all the members really paid actors still? In the lead up to Ultrapop, I remember stumbling upon one or two early to mid 2010s interviews and both Adam/Tony and Cara were already there and the former has been a known constant member since the very beginning. You can kinda fill in the gaps with articles from the These Are Lights and EPs eras, which all seemed to be before they amped up the mysterious aspect of the collective.
the only one who doesn’t seem to be an actor is urian. and the one dude who doesn’t have a beard in the new promo photos has videos on IG of actually being good at bass.
I saw this band in a basement in Chicago when Only Love came out and the really tall huge guy with the long hair and the beard is definitely in the band
i think y’all are making two different arguments at once. just because guys are consistently live doesn’t mean they’re on the record at all
Personally, I think the idea that they’re they’re all, or mostly, actors or just a live band performing songs recorded by someone else is silly. It’s all just myth-making. Tony and Randal have been in other bands together (Nice Hooves and Old Gods.) They run a production company. All the conspiracy is just marketing and it didn’t really start until Untitled came out five years into their career.
Yeah, I never really bought into the paid actors things after knowing all about their production company.
even if you look at that article it isn't "silly" lol. they flat out say converge is part of The Armed, as is the QOTSA guitarist, the two people (kurt from converge) rumored to be the brains behind the albums since they began. they also have credited drummers in legit bands on every album. it makes sense that as they got bigger, they started increasing the "production" of the act, but it was pretty transparent that these were pro musicians in the beginning. it isn't even a conspiracy at this point that they're actors lol. just confirm it, it would actually be cooler that way.
I guess I don’t really get what position you’re coming from. Who do you think The Armed are? Like, core people who are making the music.
kurt ballou and troy van leeuwen pretty clearly make the records, and then "the collective" performs it.
Okay, yeah. I just don’t think that’s the case at all. And honestly if it did turn out to be a total fabrication, that would just bum me out.
Don't know, don't care, not looking into what's real and what's not. I just think it's good and funny when bands do elaborate bits.