The Starting Line - Eternal Youth (September 26, 2025) • Page 25

I think they had an IG post explaining that one of their daughters took the picture while on location taking the promo pics, and since they knew the album would be called Eternal Youth it seemed fitting to use it as the album art.

 

god i loooove this

 

Curveball is my current favourite

 

This is definitely a TSL album.

 

This is quickly becoming one of my favourite albums of the year. Enjoyment is right up there with some of their best songs

 

The start of this album is incredible; I See How It Is, Sense of Humor, Blame and Circulate? Wow

 

I'm digging it a lot despite my issues with the production, but I also know I won't know my true feelings about it until 6 months-1 year after release after I've let it breathe a bit.

 

As a guitarist, I realllllly like the production but can see how it's not for some. It's cool hearing the guitars and amps without a fuck ton of wizardry done in the post - in a round about way it reminds me of The Strokes first couple of albums.

 

man these songs rule. I wasn't sure about the production at first, ken's vocals sound a little deeper in the mix than the last two albums, but I'm coming around to it

I like how the chorus on eternal youth is a little vacationer-y

 

I keep having to drive so much lately (once was for blink though!) so I've put this record on so many times this weekend. God, it's so solid front to back. Definitely not a skip track to be found. I think "Humility" is the one that's grown on me the most (that chorus is so good).

One thing I did not anticipate for me, personally, is that I've sort of effortlessly enjoyed this album as its own thing. We've had this conversation a million times about trying to rank things, trying to compare them to past works, etc. but for whatever reason, it hasn't even crossed my mind. Maybe it's been too long since the last album, but I don't even try to connect it in my brain as a follow-up to Direction... and I'm kind of glad that's the case.

 

I definitely understood what Jason was talking about when he said it was a little one-note... but the second listen is sooo much better than the first. It's actually wild how quickly it grows on you. "Enjoyment" is an all-timer. I do wish there were a few more big choruses but hey, this is clearly the record they wanted to make and I'm here for it.

 

Hasn't even crossed my mind either, it would be a huge disservice to rank it with the other albums, that had members around 20 years old (or even less). What I know is that if I'm about to show TSL to new people at my age right now, I'm gonna show them this new album first for sure

 

I've finally listened to this record enough to state that I think that the record feels a little one note not because of the production, but in the middle section of this record (Defeating the Purpose -> Enjoyment), every other song has a structure where it switches up from slow to fast whether at the chorus or bridge, which makes it feel a little samey in that stretch and especially on a 35min album. However the songs there are really great lol

This album is one of my favorites and I'm connecting with it more than their other records - officially a TSL fan now!

 

Really agree that the best thing about this is that it sounds like a band in a completely different phase of life just making exactly what they want without worrying about legacy or context. But it's still so distinctly them. The chorus of "Circulate," especially when Kenny hits that high note, gave me a huge grin.

I think the bass and drums sound incredible, but the way they handled vocals and guitars kind of undermines what's best about those things in this band. The lyrics and the nuances in how Kenny enunciates are buried, and the guitars, which use really interesting chords and harmonies for the genre and have gotten denser and more dissonant over the years, lose so much detail. I guess that's what they were going for with "raw." I'll get used to it, and it's not a dealbreaker, but I can't help but wonder how much more I'd enjoy my first listens if there was more clarity.

 

I've done a lot of tab creation for people by request over the years and 100% of everything I learn on guitar is by ear, but I didn't even bother to learn the singles until I watched those videos of Kenny performing them with just vocals and clean guitar. haha. They use a lot of open notes, 7 chords, etc. so there is a ton of tonal information there, and it just starts to sound like a wall of fuzz with the way they chose to process them since they aren't just power chords.

It doesn't really hurt my overall listening experience, but I also feel like a lot of that harmonic goodness from their chord choices are probably going largely unnoticed.

 

such an amazing album! Kenny's influences really shine. I hear a lot of drive like jehu here

 

Really well said. I do find myself wondering what Ken is saying half the time, and you're right, it could come down to the mix.

 

Finally listening

 

This is infinitely better than I could have hoped for. Every song rocks. Maybe, objectively, their best record? Nothing will top SILYMI for me, but this rules.

 

This album gets exponentially better with each listen… it kind of reminds me when Relient K did Forget and Not Slow Down. Just did away with all of the effects and kept it raw and real. Keeps it timeless and doesn’t keep the album in a certain era. I see how it is has to be one of the best songs I’ve heard all year.

 

Album of the year. Nothing beats this.

 

Got through my first listen earlier and yeah this slaps. A lot reminds me so much of the emo revival stuff that was going on back in high school in the early 2010s. I was down with them going down that path, fully accepting where they're at sonically these days... but then they hit me with Enjoyment, which is SO Direction it instantly put a smile on my face.

Echoing the praise for the instrumentation, sounds like there's a lot going on guitar wise. They love their jazzy chords!

 

Kinda sounds like shit tho, especially after only playing the Geese record all weekend

 

I like this more every listen. Those first four songs are fucking undeniable. I do think a couple in the middle section get a bit samey, but this is a great new direction and I wouldn't be surprised if this became my second favourite, behind SILYMI.

 

I feel the same way, it's a couple in the middle section like Defeating the Purpose that kind of take the momentum down. But I also like it more every listen and "I See How It Is" is such a great opener.