The Dangerous Summer - Mother Nature (June 14, 2019) Album • Page 29

Haven't had a proper chance to listen to this, but Starting Over/Slow Down is so damn good.

 

Wow, this is incredible! Loving SO/SD so much, and that closer

 

Way Down is so good in context

 

I’m gonna need a day or two to wrap my head around this because I’ve been overwhelmed with good music today and by the time I actually listened to this I had something of new music fatigue, but my first impressions are very positive.


The end of Virginia, oh boy...

 

And yeah, OBVIOUSLY Starting Over is an immediate highlight

 

It is very cool to hear them change things up like this, too. It’s always interesting to see bands go through the sorta things TDS did and still retain their essence while also being very different from the original iteration. And yet, despite the post-hiatus or whatever lineup, the growth between this and the last one may be the greatest in their career.

 

Got to talk to them tonight. They have Nick, who used to play in The 1994 with Ben, touring on guitar.

Amazing show. Possibly my favorite set from them ever (in eleven years of seeing them live). No acoustic song tonight, but I'll post the full setlist on setlist.fm in the morning while I'm listening to the album. I got a physical setlist so I'm pumped.

 

Give me 10 minutes of Better Light on repeat in perpetuity. AJ & The Autotunes is a band I never knew I needed lol

This flows incredibly well as an entire work. The synth flourishes and small touches here and there really go a long way in expanding on their sonic palette. In fact, I almost wish there was more experimentation now (and it’s nothing I ever expected or thought I wanted from the band because AJs writing was always enough for me). This might actually be the first record by them where I find myself far more engaged in the band beyond the vocal. The drumming in particular really stands out. Aside from the weird vocal effect still present in some songs, Purna did a really nice job here and the extra care they put into this is clearly present. “Starting” is definitely the highlight here - I would argue their most intriguing and interesting song rather than the”best” per se. It’s odd because despite the fact that they clearly pushed themselves into new sonic territory, this record almost feels like it could have been a direct follow up to RFTS (at least how AJ comes off).

Having said that, after three listens thus far, there aren’t many “hooks” that wreck me or give me the sense of immediacy of some previous work. I think that the repetition of some of the choruses is a real detractor for me. I also kept waiting for those great TDS bridges of the past. Biggest flaw right now is that I think Consequence is easily the weakest closer they’ve had. In their defense, after the epic nature of Infinite (that guitar flourish at the end - good god) and it’s direct tie to Color, I don’t know if they can reach that height again.

Overall, it’ll take the summer to see where this lands. Jason said this is this iteration’s full realization following their return. Given some of the new sounds on this combined with a return to some more traditional sounds of old TDS I think they are one small step away from really hitting it out of the park. It’s nice to have a beer on the deck and get to sift through another new TDS record that I honestly didn’t think we’d ever get. I hope AJ takes care of himself and they are able to continue down the path they are currently on.

 

Also liked to recognize how tight and quick this listen is.

 

Instead of leaving it parallel
I want to sink into you.
We can travel to Shangri La and we could start over new.
I foresee all the wonder in those eyes;
We can live life before we die,
Counting the days I want to fall in love with you;
I want to fall in love with you

HUBBA HUBBA

 

After having a few hours with this, it's definitely one of my favourite TDS albums. The guitar work is raw and the fact there is synth meshed creatively is a great move forward for the band.

Only concern is that it feels like a quick listen. I'm hoping to get more listens in but it's cemented itself as one of the finest pop punk albums I've heard recently.

 

Incredibly quick.

 

Everyone say hi! Lol

 

Don't worry AJ, this album is definitely worth both an iTunes/Bandcamp and a vinyl purchase.

 

Not saying much in here, because I'm putting it all into the review, but I'm so happy to see people love it. Feels fucking great to be excited about this band like this again. And I say that as someone who liked last year's album quite a bit.

 

Excited to read that.

 

i like self titled but there just wasnt a lot of excitement surrounding it before or after it dropped, not in the way i see fans outside of this site stoked on this one. not sure why but their big come back didnt really feel big or like much of a come back a tall, and a lot of it i think has to do with how flat that album sounds, subconsciously that sounds is gonna turn people off. or at least not get them as stoked on it as they would with the kind of crispy, clean, and full production you have here.

 

Especially after hearing this album, that one feels so timid and small. I think most of the songs on there are very good, and the timing of that album ended up being just right for me, but I don't go back to it much. It tends to lose me halfway through because it all sounds so dull.

 

yeah i only go to it when im doing a full discog run (which ive been doing a lot for them this week lol) and its good, but when im just listening to random songs from them "fire" is the only one i repeatedly come back to

 

I enjoy GR and S/T more than most so I’m probably just biased with this band but AJ is a lot like Dan from TWY for me in that I always feel like he writes lyrics just for me, like I was sitting across from him trying to get a feeling across and he took that and turned it into lyrics. This album is no exception and just goes to show how truly masterful AJ is with his lyrics and songwriting.

Virginia would make a great set opener and Violent Red works well as a slightly heavier song. All in all it’s just hit after hit

 

Will be wearing my Mother Nature shirt @ the 1975 tomorrow. Let’s get those album sales baby

 

"This Is Life" is the one I put on my summer playlist last year, so that's the one I've listened to the most. I really like the first four tracks and the last three. Mid-section kind of loses me.

 

this is really good

 

Samesies. Infinite truly is one of my favorite songs ever though. Goosebumps everytime.