The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 97

I didn't dislike Zero too much, but there are definitely more standout tracks to me on Skeletons. I could see going back to Zero for a few specific tracks, but I'd revisit Skeletons as a whole.

What are your favorite Skeletons tracks?

 

Bring You Back, Gravestones, Boy, Nervous Breakdown, End Of The underground, and Unforgivable

 

Nice! I enjoyed those other tracks too, I just had to narrow down my standout tracks is all! I like how Gravestones has a bit of a Western feel to it.

 

Same. I like it as kind of a follow up to Four Becomes One From FF as well

 

Ps when you mentioned the unclean vocals, Unforgivable has them too in the bridge

 

Yeah you’re right!

I was taking some notes on it, but I missed that one. I’ll edit my write-up.

 

I just noticed because I Love tht Song. That lyric “All we are ticking clocks, keeping track of time that’s lost” is my favorite on the album

 

Sorry this is late, holidaze held me up.

I was lucky to have two great recommendations from @Zac Djamoos this week. Songs from both made it on my favorite songs of 2017 list.

The Wrens - Meadowlands

The Meadowlands is an album that transcends history. This is not in the sense that there is no greater art to be found or that the album itself is perfect. It is more a reflection on how the context the album was created in bears no significance to the art itself - its more spontaneous, unwieldy and pure than that. This is unusual as I often find it useful to read articles around the time albums were created about the mindset the artists were in. I found this started to spoil the experience as I could not relate to the girl or what yonder edge of the turn of the century indie scene The Wrens occupied under pressure.

The Meadowlands certainly anchors itself in the popular conventions of the 90’s. The catchy ditz of the hooks, the soft twinkle and twang of the guitars, the raspy crooning vocals and the mini jam session bridges are unmistakable staples of the decade. The albums sees The Wrens pushing these elements to their limits while cleverly incorporating folk and pop sensibilities. Underneath this accomplished musicianship is a genuine passion and sense of relief that drive these tracks homes. For this reason in spite of my disconnect with the history of the band, the record’s stand out tracks are those lyrically concerned with the meta-referential aspects of being an Indie band. ‘Everyone Chooses Sides’ and ‘This Boy Is Exhausted’ capture the frustration of being pigeon-holed when you have the desire for growth. This is what I take the overall sentiment the record wants to give as well. It also has one of the most short and sweet closers of any album I’ve heard.

Must hear tracks are, "Happy" and "This Boy Is Exhausted"

The Meadowlands seems like it might have served as serious inspiration for The Hotelier’s Goodness and Mansion’s Doom Loop. The scope and soul of all three records are kindred.




Penfold - Amateurs & Professionals

This record is like the purest version of all the trends in 90's Emo. If I wanted to showcase to someone how Emo and Progressive Post-Hardcore use to be a lot more similar I would send them the link to this. It seems like they might be another band that didn't get the fame they deserved.

You've got the dueling vocals on tracks 'Traveling Theory' that TBS would later weaponize with their debut. You've got the sudden but welcome balls to the walls bridge on 'I'll Take You Everywhere" that Thursday jammed to. And finally, you've got the twinkly guitar jams that are a distilled version of Jawbreaker's. Most of the tracks on this album sound similar and monotone but its not really to the detriment of the overall sound. It does make it difficult to pick out a single track though. I have a feeling that this would be the perfect fall driving album.

That being said, everyone should listen to "I'll Take You Everywhere".

 

So so so glad you liked them! Super high praise for the wrens, but it’s so deserved

 

Did you get a chance to see either of these bands live? They seem like they would be so great live.

 

I wish. Both play occasional reunion shows but I’ve never found time to make it to either

 

It's amazing how passionate their fans are halfway around the world even

 

They’re huge in Japan actually haha for some reason

 

That's super neat.

Someone partner with me for the bonus round this week. I'll even take up to three separate partners for one album each.

 

I'd be more than happy ! Just pm me !

 

@WolvesAreCircling182 I don't know if you saw this, but can you please add @Michael Schmidt to your list?

@Michael Schmidt when the next session starts (after 1/1), you'll be paired with someone. From there, you just message that person back-and-forth to discuss what your assigned albums are. You can exchange as many albums as you want. The only "rule" really is that you get assigned an album that you have never listened to in entirety before. Then whenever you listen to the assigned album(s) just come into this thread and post your thoughts about it. It doesn't have to be anything long or flashy (but it can be if you want it to be).

 

Done!

 

That brings us to 70 members!

 

Awesome! Glad you enjoyed this so much. This was one of my favorite albums last year and I feel like this band should be much more well-known. Can't really think of any other recent examples of bands that blend pop hooks with a throwback rock sound (and guitar solos!).

 

@Fuck You Aurora and I will be partnering for a bonus round album!

They will be listening to:

Ambry - Holding on to the Blindfolds We Hide Behind

I will be listening to:

Saves The Day - Stay What You Are

 

@bachna84 Alright only 2 or 3 weeks and I'm ready to report in on The Everglow by Mae and Cities by Anberlin.

These are both bands that I've known about for a long time but just never got around to listening.

I listened to the Everglow first. It was an enjoyable listen. I like the kind of almost creepy intro it has going on to it. I'm a sucker for albums being presented in a cinematic kind of way, so it was a nice hook for me. It definitely has the type of moody pop-punk that I basically grew up on. I kind of wish I had listened to this several years ago, because I think I would've really loved it then. That's not an insult to the album though. I think it's really good and I'll almost definitely return to it a few times, but it's just a little long and not necessarily what I'm most interested in spending a lot of time with right now. Some of my favorites were Suspension, Painless, Mistakes We Knew We Were Making, and Ready and Waiting to Fall. Overall, I'm glad I got to experience this album - it was probably long overdue.

Even more so than Mae, Anberlin has always been in my peripheral vision of music. Really there's no reason I never got into them, considering they ran in the same music circle as most of what I listened to when Cities came out. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I probably did listen to at least some of these songs back then. I just never spent more time with them, and now that's something I have to live with because I've missed out on 10 years I could've been enjoying this album, and probably others by them as well. I love Stephen Christian's voice (a fact I already knew from his feature on a Craig Owens song way back when). It sounds like he's singing effortlessly but giving it all he's got at the same time. The whole album is great, but the one two punch of Unwinding Cable Car and There Is No Mathematics To Love and Loss are what really sold me. They're both fantastic, and the latter is basically what I imagine it would've sounded like if Motion City Soundtrack had decided to become a darker, slightly more aggressive band - thanks in no small part to the synth. They also remind me a lot of Thursday, but a little more digestible (I would say pop friendly, but I'm not sure that's the right word). I'll definitely be going back to this one, maybe quite a bit. I'll have to check out some of their other stuff too.

Out of the two, I see myself going back to Anberlin a lot more, but I'm glad I got to check them both out.

Sorry again I was so late on this @bachna84. Wish I had a real excuse other than work and holidays stress, but hey we got here!

 

Thanks for giving these a listen! I'm glad you enjoyed them!

Out of these two albums, I prefer Cities also (and I prefer Anberlin to Mae). Definitely check out the rest of Anberlin's catalog though! @js977 has talked about starting an Anberlin bracket soon so that may sometime that interests you possibly.

I hope you're having a happy holiday season :)

 

Probably won't participate in the brackets because I prefer to go into that type of thing with a pretty solid base of familiarity with the band - you've seen how easily I can fall behind on these things haha but I'll definitely check out some of their other stuff after I listen to Cities a couple more times.

And thank you, it's been nice so far! You too!

 

There’s a SOTY one going on too ;)

 

Uh... lol