Great new interview: In The Studio: The Xcerts - In Your Eyes is the closer - Pretty Ugly is a heavy, angry song with screaming about the reception of GIMME (my bad, y’all…) - The band wanted to return to their roots a bit
Incredible song. Feel a little guilty about being part of the problem and criticizing GIMME when it first came up, but I apologized to the band once the album grew on me. My initial confusion and disappointment came from a place of love though! No pre-orders yet. Bummer!
‘i think i want to go home now.’ finds The XCERTS digging deeper than ever before, turning a turbulent few years of grief, health scares and heartbreak into a raw, emotionally charged record. Written around the band’s tenth-anniversary tour for There Is Only You and recorded at Beehive Studios with Larry Hibbitt, the album captures a trio rediscovering the energy of writing together in a room. Across its ten songs, moments of sinking self-reflection, dark humour and cathartic release collide with bursts of defiance and melody. Exploring the push and pull between escapism and confronting reality, and the shifting idea of “home” as both refuge and loss, the record ultimately celebrates the friendship and resilience that has kept The XCERTS moving forward for more than two decades. The track listing has 11 track names, maybe one is an instrumental? Hearing they worked with Larry Hibbit makes me want to check out that last Hundred Reasons record again, which was really good.
On socials, yeah. I remember being very critical of the last album on here when it first released. Turns out, the whole thing grew on me considerably and I was bummed that it seemed like the album underperformed and that the band had to deal with that. I wasn’t even sure if we were going to get another album, so I figured I’d at least fall on my sword and let them know I appreciated their experimentation after all even if it wasn’t what I thought I wanted/needed at the time. The band seemed appreciative. Reading the lyrics to Pretty Ugly, it’s clear they saw some level of criticism over Gimme, whether that was here or elsewhere.
I’m almost certain the title track is an intro/instrumental and the first full song is Do It To Myself. There’s also two rumored b-sides, Another Silver Medal Performance and Hanging By A Thread and three of their traditional stripped song versions of Do It To Myself, Pretty Ugly, and Sinking Feeling that appear to be included maybe in a digital deluxe version later? Saw those included in a different leaked tracklisting, so I am not sure about the accuracy of that and would take it with a grain of salt. Either way, the band’s 3/3 with these singles, the hype’s real, and I pre-ordered the Banquet coke bottle clear exclusive. I hope this album does well for them.
Really digging all 3 of these. I don't remember anything about the last album so going to revisit that today.
I was intrigued to see your answer to this. For what its worth, there definetely to have been a lot going on in the background of camp The Xcerts around that time. Theres a press blurb for Pretty Ugly and this sentence is sticking with me. Commenting on the track, Macleod said, “...So this song takes a swipe at people who were criticising the band during a period when my family was going through a lot.”
Yep. I definitely feel bad in hindsight. Obviously, I didn’t know about everything going on in the background for them, but it was a wake up call that I need to be more careful and delicate with criticism. Of course, I’ve learned to really enjoy that album now. It was such a hard left turn from HOTYH (which might be one of my favorite albums of akk time) and honestly, GIMME gave me whiplash. I’m just super grateful they’ve pushed through everything and I couldn’t be more excited for the new album.
I wouldn't beat yourself up about it. They have a solid back catalogue that set a high bar. They knew the album was going against the grain of their previous work, and innevitably was going to be hit or miss for existing fanbase. I went to give it another spin on Itunes and it says its now under Epitaph records which i thought was interesting. I am really exited for their new album.
“Rinse/Repeat” is out today. Shocker, but it’s another banger. Kind of a throwback sound, yet still fresh sounding and poignant. 4/4.
I had their frontman Murray on to chat about the new record and a bunch of other stuff, and that episode came out today. Check it out if you're interested. Spotify: EP #204 - Murray Macleod (The Xcerts / Cold Crows Dead) Apple Podcasts: EP #204 - Murray Macleod (The Xcerts / Cold Crows Dead)
Probably their best since There is Only You. Heavy circumstances around its creation aside, they had plenty to prove and doubled down on the stuff that made them click for so many people.
Have you heard the whole thing? Very excited for the 10th! I really need them to get the recognition they deserve.
Up asap in the next couple of days but the more I listen to it, the more I feel like this is the most important record they've made yet, both for themselves and fans. I hope this one does well because dammit, they deserve their flowers.