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Originally Posted by duderanchnurse
so chris, can we get a brief review song by song, with lengths of the songs and who sing what??? i can't wait
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Sure...
On the whole, I'd describe the album as 'dreamy', w/ lots of arpeggios and harmonics. It's mostly upbeat, lots of pretty note progressions, lots of Lee exercising his leads, a few rockers. It's not a radical distance from Murray Street/Nurse, but I think people craving that 'quartet' feel will be satisfied.
01. REENA (Kim) 3'47"
GREAT opener, gets you hoppin' right out the gate -- "you keep me comin' home again". Kim rules!
02. INCINERATE (Thurston) 4'55"
Bouncy Thurston pop with a dark undertone.. "I ripped your heart out from your chest / Replaced it with a grenade blast" "You doused my soul with gasoline / You flicked a match into my brain" "The firefighters are so nice / I remember you so cold as ice / The flames are licking at your feet / The sirens come to put me out of misery"
03. DO YOU BELIEVE IN RAPTURE? (Thurston) 3'11"
97% harmonics -- a weird little disjointed tune, I love that they can still craft songs with this feel. Hard to explain, but I guess you've all heard it in some form. Still don't hear Lee, unless he's so buried and distorted I'm mistaking him for a beatbox.
04. SLEEPIN AROUND (Thurston) 3'42"
The tune from the mirror mov, yes. I love the riffs, the lyrics are essentially identical for each verse/chorus (one word changes for the verses). This is one of the all-out fuzzy Jet Set rock type of numbers on here...SCREECH. "Sleepin around, sleepin around / What will the neighbours say? / Sleepin around, all over town / What will the neighbours say? / What you did was wrong / What you did good is gone / Nothing you do is right / Always ends up in a fight"
05. WHAT A WASTE (Kim) 3'33"
Starts off kinda like "New Hampshire", one chord and a steady beat. But Kim's vocals take it somewhere totally different, she sounds GREAT on this record overall. A different kind of voice for her, or maybe I'm just not used to hearing her sing prettier songs recently. Kind of her "Golden Blue" voice, but less subdued. Lee plays a melody line along w/ her vocals. The chorus is just kinda quick and there, like some of the other refrains on the album. Swishy noise sounds in the background. Lookin' forward to hearing this on one of the finest shows ever, Gilmore Girls. (Yes, I'm serious!)
"Private signals lead me to you
A sublime spectacular dud
Safe and sound from shattered confusion
Get the picture, yes it's clear as mud"
06. JAMS RUN FREE (Kim) 3'52"
Jagged brain, indeed. Slow, but upbeat, pretty-ish guitar melodies, etc. "I love the way you move / I hope it's not too late for me". Extremely cool instrumental section at the end (actually, none of these songs are lacking instrumentally, great shit goin' on).
07. RATS (Lee) 4'24"
Still not sure how to describe this. Cool bass/drums groove layered in guitar noise, that you'd never expect to hear Lee's voice over. Has a semi-acoustic pre-chorus, then a 2-chord "Disappearer"-esque chorus that really soars...yeh, I'm not very good at this review thing. Nice tune, though! "When the rats run riot / And the screen door slams / When the trees grow quiet / Nothing but cats and cans / When the breeze says 'try it' / But you can hardly see / When your love has died / And you rat on me / I see your eyes in the half light / I see the number on your wall / Endless strange things I see at night / You don't see anything at all / Shine a light into your soul / City streets so freezing cold / City shadows mark the route / When they let the rats out"
08. TURQUOISE BOY (Kim) 6'14"
Loooove this one. Slow, dreamy, yes...mostly instrumental, Kim sings a few verses in this real 'french pop' type voice. Lee's does these hypnotic cascading lead things over a sea of arpeggios, and it just takes off from there. Great riffage throughout....
09. LIGHTS OUT (Thurston) 3'32"
A very slow, subdued, low tune. I think I hear Kim very softly in the chorus...not sure what to say about this one, will be curious to see what others think. Has kind of a "Disconnection Notice" vibe at one point, but the vocal sections are mostly pretty low... "She scans the room for a star to consume / When eye contact is made I suggest son, you fix your grave / Cuz it's lights out for you / Lights out for you / There's not a hell of a lot you can do / It's lights out for you"
10. THE NEUTRAL (Kim) 4'09"
More dreaminess, more great Kim vocals w/ that Golden Blue voice. Has kind of a "Nursey" chorus (or "Stonesy"?). "He's not a dreamer or a schemer / Running away from you / He's not a singer, an entertainer / With no follow thru..."
11. PINK STEAM (Thurston) 6'58"
Hot shit, coming thru! Fuckin' killer sweet jams, amazing instrumental intro, no vocals til 5 minutes in, great Thurston voice, delivery, fuck yeah! Love it! Definitely one of the highlights of the record.
12. OR (Thurston) 3'30"
I never heard Thurston's solo version of this, but I really like the SY version. It has that pulsating beat and lots of ambient guitar tapping, a really nice vibe to end the record.
"The plan is to go to D.C. and hang out
Go see girls rock
How long's the tour?
What time you guys playin'?
Where you going next?
What comes first
The music
Or
The words?"
Overall, I'm really digging this record, especially after multiple listens. Sorry my review style has gone downhill over the years, but I think people will, for the most part, be pretty excited about this one once they have a chance to digest it. Some questionable lyrics, some familiar riffs, but more importantly, some GREAT songs, and some great jams. You keep me comin' home again...