The Midnight Band • Page 8

love that. it really does feel like closing out a chapter of the band

 

The Midnight - CRAZY TOUR STORIES

 

A tad disappointed in this, tbh. I really loved Heroes because it felt like that album had their tightest and best pop song writing. I think some fans of the band dislike it for that exact reason, because it strayed from their chillwave/vibes-first roots. The album is still an enjoyable listen, but the songs don't stick with me like they did last time.

 

Heroes is incredibly underrated. idk if it was the more mainstream pop hooks, the vocal harmonies, or something else, but some people did not like it all that much. i loved it (and this one too!).

 

"Brooklyn, Friday, Love" is one of my go-to running songs, and therefore, one of my most played songs of the decade so far. An absolute banger.

 

Yeah I haven't listened to Heroes in a long time, and I remember it not sticking with me much, compared to the rest of their output. What I do like is that the band has tried to do a different theme in practically every album, so all types of fans essentially get an album suited to their interests.

 

US tour starting in April - highly recommend checking them out if you can! Probably the biggest rooms they've played so far in the US too

 

one of my favorite about The Midnight is seeing how their songs evolve from their initial stages. specifically, a number of songs they've released in the past half decade or so started out as full/demo/elements of Tyler's solo songs, just reworked instrumentally. obviously there's Lost & Found, i think Bend might've been a secret Bandcamp demo too, but Brooklyn, BFL, Souvenir, and Heroes all started out in his own solo work (side note: his version of Brooklyn is beautiful if anyone hasn't heard it). hearing the evolution of those songs really cemented why they're the best in the vocal-driven part of this genre.

as much as i love other synthwave artists, i think it's very easy to fall back on basic lyrical cliches, which makes it feel too on the nose for me sometimes. Tyler's background in folk not only lets him shine through as a lyricist, but also lets him draw on his love for/matters of philosophy and spirituality in a way his contemporaries don't. for me, his writing is the heart of this band, and when combined with Tim's fantastic production, they make something very special. i think this is also a reason why Kids is my least-favorite release of theirs, because aside from America 2 and Lost Boy (and maybe even Wave), it felt like they were banking a little bit more on nostalgic musical and lyrical cliches than not. maybe Nocturnal also got into this a tiny bit, but i really loved the darker sonic pivot.

 

vinyl turned out sick, despite a slight warp on disc 1 (still playable though)

 

Heroes is my favorite after Endless Summer. I wish Bend wasn't a b-side, it's one of their best songs

as usual I'm enjoying this new one a lot

 

i have the original vocal-only pressing of Endless Summer, and remember feeling like i was let in on a big secret having received a download of Bend as a thank you for funding the pressing. such a beautiful song.

 

The boys are taking over an entire arcade in London tomorrow to play music and game with people - the dream

 

my only semi-negative for this is that the sheer length makes it hard to listen to this as an album. not the number of songs, because 17 could be fine, but the fact that so many of them are long songs makes it tough. I don't really ever have an hour and twenty five minutes to listen to an album, unless it's bad traffic day and my commute gets jacked up. it's lead to me listening to this in chunks, which makes it a little hard to get a feel for it as an album, but there are so many great songs here.

 

@Jason Tate thoughts on this?

 

They played "The Right Way" live at the show I was at, and that track sounded incredible; felt like the whole place was flying with joy.

 

I've only made it through the whole thing once.

 

Long Island is a stand out I missed on the first couple listens. It’s buried between the middle and the end, but that one is really good.