The Menzingers - After the Party (February 3, 2017) Album • Page 80

The more I listen to this, the more Saves The Day vibes I get. Of course not in the vocals, but for sure instrumentally and sonically. Especially 'Charlie's Army' and the solo in it. Straight up 'Stay What You Are' vibes right there.

 

I've had "Charlie's Army" stuck in my head for days now.

 

Grabbed a bottle of the Menzingers beer and had a glass on tap. Patiently waiting for After the Party

 

i am so in love with this album

 

It's interesting how the idea of "stumbling" has been a recurring theme throughout their last 4 albums. Be it literally stumbling (like in The Obituaries or The Bars) or figuratively stumbling through your 20s/your life like is outlined on this album.

 

The podcast @Jason Tate and @Thomas Nassiff did was also wonderful, even if it was just an hour of "we love this album a lot".

Thomas said something that struck me which was, this band has really earned my trust. They can do whatever they want for their next album and I'm down for it. Even if the next album isn't as good or is dare I say "bad" they've still earned so much love and trust from me that I won't care. They could also just release albums like this and I'd be more than happy, just with little tweaks and different influences here and there.

 

While we're all here if you haven't revisited RW in a while I recommend doing that soon. It's an underrated gem.

Idk if they'll ever write a song as straight up heavy as Sentimental Physics or a song as haunting as Transient Love

 

It's underrated for sure.

The guitars on this album sound fantastic. I think the way Yip does drums makes them sound a bit flat, but he did a fabulous job on the whole

 

Yeah, guitars sound so good on Thick As Thieves. I think this is definitely Yip's best produced album.

 

I avoided this thread after the leak but reading through, I think I share with a lot of people that overall I'm really happy with this album. I think in retrospect people are going to heavily connect with this bands entire discography and not just OTIP or this or whatever individual one is your favorite. Like, they're gonna be one of /those/ bands, documenting people's lives before they've even lived certain things. I'm glad I didn't listen to After the Party (the track) until my first listen, it's a stand out. Boy Blue is a top tier Tom track and I feel like this is harkening more to Chamberlain Waits where the level of songwriting feels pretty equal to me.
Also, this makes me think that if I compared OTIP to Born to Run, this is kind of like Born in the USA. I don't mean narratively, I haven't dove into these lyrics yet, but sonically and....Vibe wise? Haha

 

This album for me was good immediately, but being able to absorb it after a few listens, I love it. Needed some time to sink in

 

I think the closest we get to the RW sound are the guitar parts on Boy Blue. That song probably could have fit on RW somewhere.

 

Yeah it's got that 90s shimmering rock guitar sound to it. Bad Catholics could've maybe fit on there's too

 

Yeah, that or Charlie's Army could play off Asshole and The Talk, I suppose as the fun punk songs. Army would need to be heavier sounding to really work. Bad Catholics, I sort of question the lyrical content working with the rest of the album.

 

as dark as RW is yeah they probably wouldnt work lyrically, but musically they keep a lot of that 90s influence that RW integrated.

 

For sure. I think Asshole is the only real "light" song in terms of the lyrics, which is funny because it's the first song. Maybe it's the video, maybe it's the title, but I've always taken that song as sort of tongue in cheek with a dash of real undertones. The Talk, I think is about quitting smoking, but it's sort of written in a darker tone. Definitely a darker album in nature. A very good and underrated album I might add.

 

Livin' Ain't Easy has a lot of Rented World in it, imo. Sounds kinda like Nothing Feels Good Anymore

 

Totally agree. This is the only track that punched me in the face with "Oh, here's the RW influence/sound". It's the guitar line, the production/effects a little, the song in general, the lyrics a little, the all around vibe of that track is very RW to me.

 

Yeah I can see that

 

Observation I had listening to this is that it doesn't feel quite as "sing-a-longy" as their earlier stuff but also maybe that's kinda the point. Don't get me wrong, its still a fantastic album -- there just isn't necessarily the "bring down the house during shows" song like Asshole or Obituaries. Not sure if I just need more time with it or if its just due to shift in content.

also am I the only one who is bad enough with voices that I can never tell the Tom songs and the Greg songs apart?

 

I think Lies, Lookers, Army, and House have those sing-along parts. I'd argue After the Party does as well. I could also see the crowd helping out to Black Mass on the "do you really want to give it away" or "just a little bit longer" parts.

 

Yeah I haven't had a ton of time with this but every time it's over something like "Sha la la la, Jersey girls are always total heartbreakers" is pulling me back in, so def think it isn't lacking in catchy. Lots of pop appeal here. Anthemic in the best sense.

 

i thought i didn't like this record but it turns out i just really can't stomach tom's songs

made an ep with all the greg songs and it's good background music, this band is definitely past their peak

 

lookers is the only song on here that holds a candle to their past work

 

if you segmented their discography into tier 1 and tier 2 songs it would look a lot like greg vs. tom songs