Sorority Noise - You're Not As _____ As You Think (March 17, 2017) Album • Page 12

Definitely, I think that's always a mark of a great record when everyone has different picks for favorites and least favorites.

 

Disappeared and A Portrait Of are my favorites but this record is truly great front to back. No Halo and A Better Sun both did nothing for me when they were first released but they've both grown on me, and they fit in context. Good stuff.

 

Is there anything official about what he's saying at the end of "A Portrait Of"? I can make out bits and pieces but would love something more concrete.

Also, yes, I love this record. On my third listen, and it's really meeting my high expectations.

 

That last minute is the best part, wish there was more of that in the song to break up the monotone vocals of the first 2 min. He has laid back vocals almost throughout all of the album, but there it's like he took the extra mile to sound absolutely bored. Either way, I wasn't a fan of any of the 3 singles released, but in the context of the album they are so much better. Let's just say it made me go out and purchase the vinyl after a few spins and the more I listen to the album the more I pick up on the lyrics and little intricacies of the music.

 

It's going to be extremely difficult for there to be an album I like more than this one released this year. It's basically perfect.

I'm not sure there's an artist I connect with lyrically at the moment more than Cameron. And musically, this feels like the best parts of 'Forgetable' and 'Joy' put together. It's everything I wanted from these guys, and frankly everything I've wanted from a record in general.

 

I will also add (just because I looked back at the 'God fucked me' line conversation) that as a Christian and a pastor, this is the sort of art I think people of faith should be making. In real life, as uncomfortable as some of these lines are, they're true to how people feel when their religion doesn't change the pain they feel in the world. I can honestly say that song in particular is as true to life as true to life gets when you're really trying to be the person your faith tells you that you should be and life is shit.

I've heard more people than I can count say the things Cameron's saying on this record in their honest/dark/grieving moments. They say so in confidence to people like me, and they usually do so with shame and regret. For someone who claims Christianity (or any religion) to say 'this is how I honestly feel about the God I'm trying to hold on to belief in' is just huge and freeing and powerful, in my opinion. Because it's real, and most people don't want to say it for fear of judgment (from religious people particularly).

Faith and religion - the real kind, not the kind hucksters try to sell - is messy and dirty and painful and not always fulfilling. It's a fluid thing, sometimes giving hope and sometimes just making things worse. This record captures that specific feeling absolutely perfectly, in my opinion.

 

Thanks for this post, really brought some things to clarity for me

 

The "He's always trying to fuck me to the tune of my favorite song" line reminded me of that AJJ song that says "my God thinks my jokes are funny". Maybe it's because I am not religious, but I think if there were a god who was all about love, he would laugh at that line.

 

I also take it to mean more, "God is trying to screw me over, or fuck things up in my life" more than... you know, sexual connotations. I obviously understand where the latter comes from based on the line, "lead me on" but I take it to be more tongue-in-cheek than anything.

 

I think that line also causes discomfort due to the male voice expressing a submissive role in sex which is pretty heavily stigmatized in masculinity.

 

I have to say, that line resonated really strongly with me. There are religious references all over the record but it's from the perspective of a man whose life is falling apart and he needs something, ANYTHING to believe in and is questioning his faith in a whole lot of different contexts.

Reminds me of some rough shit I went through in late 07/08 when I was a staunch Catholic and my life was a fucking nightmare. When Cameron makes references to 'god' and religion, they're relatable enough that the listener is able to connect them to experiences in their own life, regardless of whether or not they're religious. It's brilliant.

 

Anytime an album comes out that deals with crises of faith and religious overtones like this, it hits super close too home. Second Letter From St. Julien destroys me

 

Listened to this all day yesterday, loved and appreciated it more with each listen. If I had to ask for anything more on this record, I would have to say I was hoping for them to include strings—like on Joy, Departed—again.

 

He said on the Washed Up Emo podcast that he just went in the studio and just said whatever was in his head, stream of consciousness type stuff. He also said it will be different every time they play it because he will just say whatever is in his head.

 

Listening for the first time now - I see what Casey means about the brand new style vocals in no halo, but that's about it. I'm really not into the spoken word section in a portrait of. Everything else has been pretty cool so far. I loved joy departed on my first few listens to that, too, though - I'm hoping this one has more staying power than that one did for me. Disappeared is very cool tho. I will definitely be returning to that song a lot

 

I liked this on first listen but I haven't really felt an overwhelming urge to come back to it. I'm definitely a fan of the 'Sapone-ification' of their sound, but I think the heaviness of the lyrics are probably going to keep this from being in regular rotation for me, as they did for the last Touché record.

 

I love A Better Sun so much that it'll make up for everyone who doesn't like it.

 

I've listened 4 or 5 times through now. I'm not sure I like it more than Joy, Departed but I'm enjoying it nonetheless and I'm sure it'll continue to grow on me.

I still think No Halo is probably the best song on the album too but I can't really think of a song on the album I don't like (although New Room doesn't really do that much for me). Disappeared and Car are some of my other favorites thus far as well.

I know earlier there were a lot of Brand New and MO comparisons. I think instrumentally, there are a lot of Brand New vibes on here.

 

Feel like the Brand New vibes are fairly superficial. No Halo has Deja vibes, as everyone's said, and Mike Sapone makes albums sound good, but the songwriting doesn't really resemble Brand New imo, or if it does it's in a really broad way

 

listened a few times. i honestly think it's a mostly average record outside of disappeared and ending of a portrait of. the vibe is definitely better than the first but it still feels pretty trapped in ego and it's missing that something to push it to moving transcendence.

some stuff does land cus of the nature of my turbulent life experience tho, and i always appreciate their blunt lyricism for that reason. but even tho i relate to a lot of the lyrics -- and i'm a hardcore lyrics guy -- i'm still not feeling that much from it outside of the songs i mentioned.

 

Never heard this band before today, but I listened to the first few tracks and I got "Brand New vibes" - Digging it for sure.

 

I was more referring to the instrumentals on First Letter and Leave the Fan On...I thought it had some major Daisy vibes instrumentally (Bed and You Stole).

 

I see what you mean, I won't deny that you can see that kind of influence because they're (or Cam) clearly Brand New fans, but on my first listens I really just chalked that up to Cam's like of textures/post rock and Modest Mouse respectively (it was the bent harmonics on the latter that made that comparison stick to me)

 

I have to be honest: I understand where y'all are coming from with the influences. But this is LP#3 from these guys - this sounded like Sorority Noise, to me. The BN/MO/Weezer references have been pretty apparent the whole time. I don't think this record is at all different than their past two in that regard - it sounds like an emo band with an emphasis on dynamics to me, just like a whole mess of other bands who do the same.

 

I'm finding myself loving the slower tracks on this more and more. First letter second letter and leave the fan on. It's hard to write full band alow tracks that are interesting and I think that it's accomplished here, both vocal melodies and guitar melodies real interesting on them. And I enjoy the lower melodies on those as well.