The Lawrence Arms - Skeleton Coast (July 17, 2020) Album • Page 3

This is a rather okay album by a really good band. Maybe it will grow on me.

The vocals unfortunately just are not good anymore.

 

Nah, they're great.

 

I like most songs on here bar Lose Control and Don't Look At Me. They easily could have been cut imo without losing anything

 

I don't think I have ever disagreed with an opinion more.

 

Unm Lose Control is one of my favorites.But I love it all.Brendan’s songs do for me the same what Dan’s on latest Alkaline Trio album.They are not my favorites but they somehow keep the whole thing fresh and Iam glad they are there

 

this is great, no surprise.

 

interesting to see people like Lose Control. to me it sounds like a modern day bouncing souls song, i.e. redundant.

 

I feel similarly. Lose Control is the song I'd point to when I'm discussing how the Brendan/Chris dynamic makes the sum greater than the parts. Lose Control is an okay song and it suffers (to me) in too much of mid tempo melodic wispy Chris writing. Brendan's songs add a bite to the record that is necessary to keep it from what I feel would otherwise drag (like some of Chris' solo stuff does to me).

I absolutely love the stretch from Belly of the Whale to Last Last Words. Reminds me of the Seventeer - to - Metropole segment on Metropole in that there are some fantastic tracks that I think will become setlist staples. Under Paris feels very similar to Never Fade Away ("We Are Wolves" repeated vs. "Never Fade Never Fade" repeated). Both songs could also be described as "burners". Don't Look At Me fills that same Paradise Shitty part of the slower, more ambient BK song.

My top BK songs are Belly, Pigeons, and Don't Look and Chris' are Last Words, Coyote, and Dead Man's Coat.

I've listened 10x+ since Friday but I can't say where I'd place it in discography quite yet. I love this band so much.

 

A lot of it feels familiar. I can't place them all exactly but in listening to the Skeleton Coast podcast, it seems like they focus very heavily on what didn't work previously for them and emphasize what did. I can feel them leaning heavily on some things that worked in previous output. The division between the bombastic Brendan songs and slow burn of Chris songs on this reminds me of Greatest Story, which I'd say was their most divisive in terms of song structure between the two of them until this album. The melody in Belly of the Whale reminds me of Like a Record Player (or maybe a Falcon song?). Coyote Crown is a better October Blood. Never Fade Away/Under Paris are similar along with Don't Look At Me/Paradise Shitty.

In the article on Brooklyn Vegan it mentions a 100 Resolutions vibe from Last Last Words which makes sense.

I don't view the recycling as lazy but more a refining of what they've had work and what they think failed in the last 20 years.

 

Oh don't agree on Coyote Crown being a better October Blood... October is one of my favourite Chris songs. agree with the general comparisons there though. I think songs 1 through 6 are great on this.

Demon and Ghostwriter meh, picks back up with How to Rot and Under Paris

 

must be why i like it haha. i know most of the souls stuff in the last 10 years doesnt have much to offer in variety but im still a sucker for that sound

 

coyote crown is probably my favorite track tho

 

I getting strong Gaslight Anthem/Menzingers vibes from Quiet Storm for some reason....probably the reason for that one being my favorite

 

I take back what I said. This clicked my second listen - what a fool I was. This is great stuff.

 

This is good information that I appreciate. This is the first I’ve listened to them, and after having this all weekend I think it may be my AOTY. I was looking forward to going back through all their stuff and knowing this is helpful!

 

Don't forget Cocktails & Dreams! It's a compilation/b-side album but flows very much like a studio album and has some absolute staples.

You could start with their We Are The Champions (which is a greatest hits) to get a sense of which albums you'll like more than others. This band is so weird in that there's no consensus "best" album of theirs and I'm sure you'd find long time fans with rankings that are the exact reversal of other fans.

 

After running through the discography I think I am ready to do this:

Apathy & Exhaustion
Oh! Calcutta!
Four One Five Two
Buttsweat and Tears
The Greatest Story
Cocktails & Dreams
Metropole
We Chase the Waves
Skeleton Coast
Ghost Stories
Neon Fiction
Guided Tour

 

Might as well throw the Wandering Birds records in there if you're doing Sundowner haha

 

I've never listened! Maybe I should

 

The Falcon as well for good measure

 

Both records are very weird, I love the first one but didn't get into it for awhile. The second one has some even more weird elements and isn't as good as the first but still good

And if you haven't given The Falcon a listen I would do that too. (Brendan, Neil and Dan Andriano) and the second record also has Dave Hause as a member

 

I had The Falcon on earlier but just switched back to TLA. Same with The Broadways. Not bad, I just like Chris in the mix. I'll revisit later.

 

I was going to reccommend The Broadways as well. I just listened to that this morning haha I honestly might like Broken Star more than Guided tour and Ghost Stories but it's close. Chris definitely didn't fully come into his own yet on there but his songs are still good

 

Ok, I’ll bite. This could change based on how skeleton coast matures:

Greatest Story Ever Told
Oh! Calcutta!
Metropole
Cocktails & Dreams
Skeleton Coast
Apathy and Exhaustion
Ghost Stories
Guided Tour

 

Find myself enjoying the Chris songs on this one more. Have to give it more time, but that initial reaction might be more to do with we don’t get to hear too much from him, whereas Brendan has his solo stuff & The Falcon in the last couple of years.

I’d go:

Oh! Calcutta!
Greatest Story
Apathy
Skeleton Coast
Metropole
Cocktails & Dreams
Ghost Stories
Guided Tour