I think I’d say After The Party is my favourite song by them. Cool story telling and a video that actually really works with it. Rented World is really cool though, and it’s honestly hard believe that album came out after OTIP.
Has to be OTIP for me. That album is just constant great tracks. That is not discrediting any of their other records at all. I just prefer OTIP that bit more.
Listened to them all one after the other over the weekend and I think they all stack up well to each other. I read that Rented World gets a "bum rap", and agree with you, not sure why.
It’s seriously so good and it’s absurd that they just continued to release better records after. But honestly some days Chamberlain might be my favorite
ATP is flawless front to back. I respect OTIP votes for sure and it's a great record, but no record I've heard captures living in your early 30's feeling like everything is about to fall apart like ATP.
Every time Menz has put out a record I’ve tried to get into it but ATP is the only one that’s actually stuck with me, so that one
Rented World has some of their best songs from their last three records, but also some of their worst songs. That isn’t to say they’re bad songs by any means, just that they pale in comparison to what they’re capable of. That’s why it gets third place for me.
OTIP is a 2010s classic. That After the Party could be considered an equal, or even better, is just absurd. Yet here we are. This band has two unimpeachable classics, two more great records, and hopefully a third classic about to drop. Fantastic band. Albums ranked: On the Impossible Past After the Party Chamberlain Waits Rented World Lesson in Abuse Top 10 songs: 1. Gates 2. After the Party 3. Mexican Guitars 4. Midwestern States 5. In Remission 6. Lookers 7. Casey 8. Your Wild Years 9. I Don't Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore 10. Good Things
It's a close second for mine. Probably lags in the middle imo -- Charlie's Army and House on Fire don't do much for me. Nor does The Bars toward the end (which I liked at the start but it never stuck). Conversely, I like every track on OTIP, even Ava House which I know others feel is a weak point. If you dropped those three songs from After the Party I'd probably rank it just as good as OTIP, plus it'd make the album about 34 minutes long which would boost its (already solid) replayability.