Now THIS is a rock album. What a ripper. You can tell this is them to their core. They definitely peeled it back, which I’m pretty sure that’s what they wanted to do. Amazing guitar riffs and solos.
There’s a coke bottle green variant up on their website rn. Mid-April release date it it hasn’t already been posted
Absolutely loved it. Worth the wait. “Funny Farm” is gonna burn down venues. I know “Heaven or Not” is a shift for them and I love the groove and the plodding bass line. It will be a great break in their set when you need to stop thrashing for a bit, but it has really good propulsive energy. I really like Pink Slip (finally hearing it!) STEPHEN A SMITH VOICE: BUT! …it’s a near dead ringer for “The Killing Lights” by AFI and I can’t unhear that. Thankfully, I love that song too.
White reaper with militarie gun or narrow head is an easy sell. Best support they’ve had in a long time.
I actually really like their lyrics - at times relatable and wounded, other times surreal and defiant, sometimes both ("crawlspace"!!!)
This record is lean and mean. I am digging the shit out of it. The title track is a real feather in their cap.
Love this album. I think it's better than You Deserve Love, but the singles on YDL were stronger and had more crossover appeal, but I think this album is more fun.
I've had it stuck in my head since I saw them perform it at the Goose Island Block Party in September!
There’s a part of me that thinks Pages shorter length is a perfect closer for an album like this that doesn’t overstay it’s welcome and goes out on a high note. There’s an *increasingly big* part of me that wishes it morphed into a Goodbye Sky Harbor of riffs on the last “I tore out all the pages” chorus. In conclusion, Libya is a land of contrasts.
I think it's cool that they ditched the original producer and just hired one of the engineers to co-produce it with them. It sounds great.
Welp I’m in the minority here: I thought this album was alright but half baked for sure. While I’ve grown to love Pink Slip and Fog Machine - other tracks like Bozo (another favorite) falls a little short. That line “I don’t think I know how much it means” should have been an explosive chorus that repeats for at least a second time but the song ends way too quickly. Perhaps the record will grow on me more but I would rank You Deserve Love and World’s Best American Band above this.
When I saw these guys open for Motion City Soundtrack a few years back, I was really not impressed, but I'm seeing a ton of hype for this, so maybe I'll give them another shot.
I can agree with this. But there’s very little wasted motion on those records and every song has a HUGE chorus. Bozo, Trouble, Asking all have good energy but never surge into another gear. I also think the second half manages itself better than the first.
That AP article was great but they didn’t check their facts. This is their fourth album, not third. How did they fuck that up? Lol