Rae Sremmurd - Sremmlife 2

Rae Sremmurd are a hip hop duo that at first I thought I would absolutely despise.  I’m picky with rap and hip hop, always have been and probably always will be.  I’ve always been more of a conscious or experimental hip hop guy as opposed to BANGERS BANGERS AND BANGERS.  That being said, when I listened to Rae Sremmurd’s first album “Sremmlife”, I found a new found appreciation for club bangers and just straight up fun hip hop/rap.  There wasn’t a single song on there that I felt like pushed boundaries or really reinvented anything.  Yet, so many of those tracks were just plain infectious (However I still despise “No Flex Zone”, I’m sorry).  On top of that, both Swae Lee and Slim Jimmi (who make up Rae Sremmurd) have had a few really solid features in the past year.  That all being said, I was actually really interested to hear what the duo would bring out for “Sremmlife 2”. 

The duo don’t waste a single second of our time starting the party, with “Start A Party” (See what I did there).  It’s all about excitement here, between that crunching, grinding beat and the “EAR DRUMMERS” production tag (which when used correctly really pumps me up).  When the beat hits, it’s just about as loud and bass driven as you would expect from these two.  As far as lyrics go, it’s exactly what you would expect from these two as well.  But if you’re a fan of the duo’s last album, that’s far from a bad thing.  “Sremmlife” was just a whole lotta fun, and for the most part so is this.  Now if you’re expecting deep, enlightening lyrics you’re in the wrong place entirely.  However, thats not to say that the duo don’t have plenty of hilarious and quirky one liners, such as She said, "Let me guess, you a drug dealer", Said, "Nah, I just brought a lot of money and a whole lot of drugs with me"".  As far as a solid intro from these two, I don’t really have anything bad to say about “Start A Party”, it’s a solid freakin’ banger.  Up next we have “Real Chill”, featuring a verse from up and coming Kodak Black, who I’m not a fan of in the slightest.  I dig the beat on this one though, the hazy feel to it is just fantastic.  Some of the vocals throughout this track are a little goofy, at times a little too goofy, something about the delivery of "She shake it, it feel real" gets to me.  Before you know it Rae Sremmurd are referencing Ben 10 and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, these guys are seriously fearless.  But it works for them, it really makes the duo much more entertaining than other hip hop acts.  Kodak Black’s verse here isn’t nearly as entertaining, but it’s not too horribly bad either.  “Real Chill” isn’t a step down from “Start A Party”, but it’s still a solid tune.  A few tracks later we get “Look Alive”, which shows the duo on almost a Travis Scott beat.  Personally, I feel like when Rae Sremmurd give us a sung hook it works gold, and “Look Alive” is no different.  The sung hook comes off ridiculously well here, and everything else about this beat compliments the duo so well.  Their delivery on the verses is solid, overall this is really just everything I want to hear them on.   Later on in the album we get “Came A Long Way” which is more or less Rae Sremmurds version of a “rise to fame” track, which basically everyone has.  The piano and synth beat here is absolutely gold,  especially for Rae Sremmurd.  I feel like most rappers I wouldn’t have been able to take seriously on this beat AT ALL, but Rae Sremmurd simply sound at home on this beat.  Now this track may not be for everyone though, cause it is a more mature track from a duo that have made a career of making party anthems.  However, I think it’s refreshing and a solid change of pace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efbnVocWBnk

Now, let’s dive into some of the album’s singles!  “By Chance” was the first track I heard off of this album, and hearing it the first time honestly I really wasn't that impressed at all.  It’s got a catchy hook, I’ll give it that, and the beat is solid.  But as far as Rae Sremmurd’s performance goes, it’s seriously bland.  I have no problem whatsoever with some drug lines here and there.  But “By Chance” is seriously one drug line after another.  I can see this being a great live performance track to hype up the crowd, but this one was just a little underwhelming for me.  However, I do see the appeal of why people dig this one, it absolutely has its moments still.  On the other hand, “Black Beatles” featuring the newly free man Gucci Mane is absolutely stellar.  These more synth driven beats continue to do wonders for the duo, and gives “Black Beatles” a much more chilly atmosphere.  Honestly, "Black Beatles" may be the best track I've ever heard from these guys.  Gucci's verse is pretty awesome actually, but in Gucci's defense the dude has seriously been on fire recently.  He continues to sound super coherent (oddly enough) and just delivering some solid verses.  "Black Beatles" is absolutely fantastic.  However, one issue that is present on this album is the fact that Rae Sremmurd have always been more of a Pop Rap duo.  That being said, most of the time it comes off great.  But that also leaves room for awful corny bangers like "Shake It Fast".  Right off the bat this beat really doesn't click with me at all.  Yea it makes you move and all, but I can literally hear beats like this on any other commercial rap track. As far as the verses go, they really aren't that much better.  Everything here is so hectic and cluttered, this is the exact opposite of what I wanted to hear.  Everything about "Shake It Fast" I could hear in literally any rap record of the last 5 years.  Then we have Juicy Jay's verse.  You know I've never been a big fan of his to begin with, and his verse here is just as over the top and over-sexualized and just plain stupid to be honest.  However, there ARE some legitimately funny lyrics here and there from Rae Sremmurd which saves the track from being 4 minutes of a waste.  Then we have the equally cringe worthy "Set The Roof" featuring Lil Jon.  Now first of all, who the hell wants Lil Jon on their hook/chorus in 2016, seriously.  He's an alright hype man, but I can't take anything he does incredibly seriously.  However, I will give this track credit, it has a much better beat than other tracks here.  Also, Rae Sremmurd themselves here end up spitting some of their most aggressive hardcore verses yet.  Also, honestly I just love the way they sound of this beat, with a stronger hook this could have been an absolute monster of a track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnVUR4ddPTk

As far as the last third of the album goes, it's pretty hit and miss.  While I usually love the duo's brief stints into more sung material, "Now That I Know" is just painful as all hell.  The intro I'm just not feeling AT ALL, even when the beat eventually hits it's just so soulless.  Now I'm huge into the alternative R&B genre, but there's also a lot of crappy artists in there as well.  THIS sounds like a real cheap knockoff of any terrible artist in that genre.  There isn't a single memorable moment here, and seriously those vocal effects floating through the background are truly laughable.  On the other hand, "Take It Or Leave It" ends up being one of the most memorable tracks on here.  The intro has this great, heavy, sluggish start with a beat that comes truly out of left field.  The hook here is pure magic, and overall this is just a real classy sounding track.  While there's a lot of party starting bangers on here, there's also a whole lot more substance than I expected, which may turn some people off but personally I love it.  But just when I thought that this album was going to end on such a great note, here comes "Do Yoga", the most insufferable track here by far.  Every ounce of substance shown on some of the tracks here is just thrown right out the window in exchange for every corny cliche in the book.  I would literally expect "Do Yoga" out of a crappy one hit wonder, it's that bad.  The beat is bizarre, the verses don't save anything at all, I can barely sit through it to be honest.


Rating: 7.2/10


Give A Listen To: "Black Beatles", "Take It Or Leave It", "Start A Party", "Look Alive"


Overall Thoughts:  If you enjoyed "Sremmlife", chances are you're going to like this just as much.  It's all about energy with Rae Sremmurd, and they have TONS of it.  There are plenty of great bangers on here, plenty of bad ones as well though.  However the duo in parts show more substance than their first studio album, depending on what you dig in your Hip Hop, you may love that or hate that.  Overall though, it's a solid record, with some of the duo's best tracks and worst tracks.

Of Montreal - "Innocence Reaches"

Man, Of Montreal have been ridiculously busy the past few years.  If you don’t know Of Montreal, and you’re a fan of indie pop, man do I ever feel sorry for you.  These guys have a gigantic selection of indie pop classics like “Cherry Peel” and “The Gay Parade”, which are filled to the brim with love songs so sweet and adorable you can’t help but stand back and say “AWWWWWW”.  As far as their 2000’s stuff goes, it’s a little more hit and miss to say the very least.  Of Montreal started trying tons and tons of new sounds,making for some of their biggest albums yet.  Whether it be the disco infused electro-pop of “Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer?”, or the alternative country flavored and criminally underrated “Lousy With Sylvianbriar”, Of Montreal were popping out albums left and right.  However, this also lead to some of the bands most bizarre albums.  More times than not, the band was mixing way too many sounds producing these bizarre psychedelic pop messes.  Then we had “Aureate Gloom”, which was released last year.  While I loved lead singer Kevin Barnes’ attitude, instrumentally that album had me scratching my head.  And now here we are only a year and a half later with new Of Montreal material, “Innocence Reaches”. 

Now I heard beforehand that Of Montreal on this album were going for a more electronic sound.  That sounded just fine to me, they’ve done it in the past and occasionally it’s turned out great.  However, hearing just how freakin much electronic influence has on the music here is certainly disheartening on the first track, “Lets Relate”.  If you were to listen to an Of Montreal track in the late 90’s and then listen to this, you would be absolutely horrified.  “Lets Relate” more or less is a radio pop song.  Now to be perfectly fair, Kevin Barnes doesn’t sound too out of place amongst the pulsating synth and booming bass.  This is honestly just 100% not for me, at all.  Yes, the beat makes you move.  But when you sit here and think of just how much earlier Of Montreal material was truly groundbreaking, to hear this is cringeworthy.  Not to mention, the production here is absolutely suffocating, Kevin Barnes really doesn’t need all this crap.  Sure there are catchy moments here and there, but man oh man is this ever not for me.  Let’s move on before I scream.  Up next we have “It’s Different For Girls”.  And whats that? Right off the bat we have an actual guitar?  Shocking.  It really doesn’t stick around too long though, and while it is around it’s kinda just taking up space with synths, it’s a shame too.  As far as the vocals go, Kevin Barnes here just sounds uninspired.   As messy as their last album “Aureate Gloom” was, Barnes on that sounded completely unhinged.  THAT made it interesting at least, Barnes here sounds actually very bored.  While were on the subject of Barnes’s performance, lyrically he’s just as sharp as a tack.  Barnes has always been a strong, memorable frontman, mostly because of his lyrics and delivery.  The delivery here may be mild, but his lyrics are clever and witty as ever.  But this electronic sound at the root of everything, seriously it’s baffling to me.  It’s not like they’ve done more electronic stuff before and succeeded with it.  So what the hell was wrong with THAT sound? “It’s Different For Girls” is a track that I want to like.  If Barnes livened up a bit It would be solid, but it’s just ok.  And it’s a whole lot better than this album’s intro, thats for damn sure.  “My Fair Lady” take a play out of the “Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer” playbook and starts off with some heavy bass. But the lyrics here are just freakin odd, and I can’t get into Barnes’s performance if my life depended on it.  Like I get that he’s trying to do the whole deadpan delivery kind’ve shtick.  But he pulls it off horribly and just sounds actually bored with what he’s talking about.  And it’s a real shame, because instrumentally this one has some really solid moments.  Those flutes that come in compliment Barnes perfectly, and when Barnes picks things up for the chorus it actually works very nicely.  Everything on this album is just so all over the place, including the album cover, that thing is ugly as all hell.  But seriously, I think the most frustrating thing about this album is though, are the brief moments of sheer brilliance.  Take for example “Gratuitous Abysses”, which comes out of freakin’ nowhere.  In the middle of all of these synth driven, heavy electronic based songs comes this track out of nowhere with these wild guitar intros and all sorts of other exciting elements.  Barnes, while he’s still on the more reserved side, sounds absolutely at home on this instrumental, much more than other tracks here.  I mean let’s face it, this is probably the closest thing were going to hear to an Of Montreal classic sound.  There’s a ridiculously strong power pop feel, and Barnes’s lyrics continue to be stellar.  If the rest of the album sounded like this, we would have another classic on our hands, easily. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N_YA6KjWkE

Now I always try to give credit where it’s due.  “Les Chants De Maidoror” has one of the most solid openings on this entire album, I honestly though Of Montreal were about to turn around on me and end up impressing me.  However, that great energetic start dies out very quickly and “Les Chants De Maidoror” turns into a funk jam.  Now I’ve heard plenty of these from Of Montreal in my day, I know this can go one of two ways.  And guess what, it ends up failing pretty badly.  Everything exciting about the track just leaves, and literally everything else here is so unbelievably bland!  When the guitars occasionally come back in, they spice things up really nice.  However whenever they do, they disappear 15 seconds or so later.  “Les Chants De Maidoror” as it goes on and on, goes absolutely nowhere.  Not to mention in the last minute, Of Montreal get really obnoxious and give us a half assed sound collage that’s supposed to sound all edgy and psychedelic.  What a mess.  Speaking of messes, “A Sport and A Pastime” is up next.  Seriously, this track right off the bat sounds like radio pop.  Not that there’s anything wrong with radio pop, I just don’t want to hear Of Montreal singing it.  Lyrically once again it’s really not that bad at all, but good lord this is Kevin Barnes’s most pathetic performance here yet.  That dreamy hook sounds like something Purity Ring or Flume would come out with, which I love that sound, but does it really belong here of all places? I verses are near cringeworthy and  everything here just gets me grumpy listening to it.  Of Montreal on here so far have for the most part been taking small great portions of songs, and really letting us down with the rest of the track.  “A Sport and A Pastime” is just bizarre.  “Ambassador Bridge” is up next, and would ya believe it, I can seriously get into this intro, again!  The bass here is super soulful, the synths are fantastic, but then once again Barnes’s performance is just plain not doing it for me at all.  I mean seriously, I’ve heard him on some strange tracks before in my life, but this takes the cake.  Once again, I really REALLY want to love this track, but there’s too many little things about it that I seriously can do without.  There are some real moments of sheer brilliance though damnit, there really are.  Take for example “Def Pacts”, which is easily the most psychedelic thing your going to hear here.  However, this track at the very least has plenty of really interesting things going on, which is so much more than I can say for other tracks here.  Lyrically it’s intriguing, and when everything slows down for that chorus things become absolutely gorgeous.  More or less it’s a lot of psychedelic instrumentals with Kevin Barnes doing an odd monologue over everything, but hey it really works for them here, and “Def Pacts” is easily one of the more interesting tracks here.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oPp76d31xc

 The final third of the album starts off with…..what’s this?  Another solid song?  Yes, it’s “Chaos Arpeggiating”.  It’s sort of goofy and awkward, but it has such a charm to it that I can’t help but love it.  And while at first I rolled my eyes at another Kevin Barnes deadpan performance, honestly this one works really well.   The more psychedelic feel actually comes off fantastic here.  Lyrically this is some of the album’s most interesting lyrics, and Barnes picks things up a bit as we go on and actually sounds alive and kicking.  While the blend of indie pop and electronic music and God knows what else has been a mess so far, here it comes off very smooth and well thought out.  Also, those background vocals do absolutely wonders.  “Chaos Arpeggiating” really takes everything I love about Of Montreal and puts it in one place, I just wonder why the hell they only did this on this track.  “Nursing Slopes” is up next, because Kevin Barnes clearly doesn’t want to use any easy to remember song titles on this entire record.  Of Montreal on this one go back to a more electronic sound, but for the most part this one is smooth.   It’s absolutely more classy than earlier applications of electronic music.   I would even go as far as saying this sounds like something off of “Hissing Fauna…”, almost at least.  If “Nursing Slopes” just picked it up a little, this could be a great track, but it’s still not completely unbearable.  There’s even some weird fantasy sounding stuff on this one, but its still solid.  And just when I thought I’ve completely gotten through all of the absolute bullshit on this album, in strolls “Trashed Exes”.  I really don’t even want to think about this track too long, so I’m going to make this super quick.  First, the production.  This track is beyond over produced.  Like, take the most over produced crappy pop song you’ve ever heard, than add even more layers of glossy production on top of that.  All of that STILL wouldn’t add to how shiny and awful “Trashed Exes” sounds.  As far as the instrumentals go, those synths are easily the ugliest they’ve been on this entire album, which is saying something.  And then we get to the worst part, the lyrics.  Lyrically, Kevin Barnes sounds just as fantastic, and it was wasted on this awful instrumental, quite frankly I’m embarrassed for him.  “Trashed Exes” is so bad that it literally made me want to go back and re-evaluate everything good that I’ve said about this album, but don’t worry I’m not gonna take it back.  Then we have the album’s finale, “Chap Pilot”.  Listening to that intro the first time, I really didn’t know what to expect.  It’s odd as all hell to be honest, but when things pick up it’s an alright track, but sloppy from time to time.  I really feel like I’m beating a dead horse this time, but the real star here is Kevin Barnes once again, who lyrically is just so gifted.  There are a few other cool elements throughout this one, but at the end of the day it’s just ok, like 90% of the entire album.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImYVgrdeiac

Rating: 6.7/10

Give A Listen To: "Chaos Arpeggiating", "Def Pacts", "Gratuitous Abysses", umm, "Nursing Slopes"? I guess?

Overall Thoughts:  Man this thing is just overproduced as all hell, and if you're an old school Of Montreal fan I feel really bad for you if you're listening to this with me.  Kevin Barnes confirms with us that he really is one of the most dynamic, entertaining frontmen in Indie Pop.  But at the end of the day, he's really one of the only things to latch on to on this album.  This album was messy as all hell, but the most consistent element to this entire album was Barnes's lyrical performance. There are so many other brief, solid moments, and a few really standout tracks.  But the rest of this was a strange, jumbled mess.  

Thee Oh Sees - A Weird Exits

Now anyone who knows me, knows that I'm the biggest sucker for garage rock/garage punk.  I fell in love with Thee Oh Sees years ago, around the same time that I really got into Ty Segall and The Black Lips.  Thee Oh Sees though have been as far as I'm concerned much more consistent then alot of other contemporaries.  Since the release of the twisted "The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending The Night In", Thee Oh Sees haven't really released a truly bad album.  Yes, "Warm Slime" is underwhelming and I completely forgot "Drop" existed until a few days ago.  Outside of that though, the bands catalog is stacked with great Garage Rock and Garage Punk records.  And seeing this awesome album cover, I expected another solid record, shall we dig in?

This album starts off with the very slick “Dead Man’s Gun”.  Right off the bat, this is clearly the most straightforward, no nonsense start to an Oh Sees album I’ve heard in quite some time.  Now, one of the most notable things here is the production.  Oddly enough this production is actually really clear, absolutely a far cry from their days of “The Masters Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In” albums.  The production back in those days was so grimy and frantic and wild that you literally felt like you were right there with the Oh Sees as they pumped out every last sinister garage rock tune.  This is just as frantic, but much more streamlined, and less “in the moment”.  It may turn some people away, and I do miss that old feeling of being right there with them, but it’s something I can get over.  As far as John Dwyer’s vocals go, it’s really what you expect, but not in a bad way.  I’ve always loved Dwyer’s performances, they always seem so unhinged and wild.  Here, it’s no different.  I honestly haven’t heard Dwyer this aggressive in years, and those primal yelps in between verses are nothing but magic.  I always feel like the Oh Sees really nail intros to their albums, and this one is no different.  That guitar solo is freakin’ fantastic, and the short, staccato vocals by Dwyer are odd but really go with the paranoia of the record.  And as far as the production goes, even though it’s clearly much cleaner, there is still TONS of fuzzy wonderful guitar feedback.  And seriously, when it comes to Thee Oh Sees, I don’t see how there can’t be.  Not to mention the outro has these wonderful, unnerving guitars that I can’t help but love, Thee Oh Sees never cease to amaze.  Then we have “Ticklish Warrior” which is completely the opposite in feel.  This one starts off with a mega funky guitar riff, it almost sounds like something The Black Keys would have done years ago, you know when they were actually edgy and an actual Garage Rock band (Shots fired).   But as funky and groovy as it gets, the power of this one doesn’t let up.  “Ticklish Warrior” is just so loud and chaotic, and those guitars are so overpowering. Honestly, I haven’t heard the band play with this much raw power in quite some time.  Now the band on this album is seriously going for a horror/sci-fi theme, but Dwyer’s distant, pained vocals add so much to that.  Now “Ticklish Warrior” isn’t exactly the psychedelic slap in the face that most people are accustomed to when it comes to Thee Oh Sees, and I know people are very judgmental of their slower stuff.  But personally, I think this is one of the better slow burning Oh Sees tracks I’ve heard.  A few tracks later we have “Plastic Plant” one of the early tracks released from the album.  Following a few of the more experimental, slower tracks here, “Plastic Plant” is super eye opening.  All of your classic Oh Sees elements are right here, between the wailing guitars and thunderous drums.  It’s triumphant as all hell, and when everything falls back and Dwyer’s vocals are in charge, man is it ever a solid moment.  There are plenty of oddball keyboards and sci-fi sounding effects that work perfectly with Dwyer’s performance.  Add all of this with  the primal yelps and the sheer chaos of the band here, and you’ve got a truly classic Oh Sees track.  John Dwyer overall just writes such solid rock tunes, and the solo here is easily the most pronounced and epic instrumental i’ve heard from them in ages.  Not to mention, the little “Jam session” towards the end of the track is totally tasteful and interesting, with great use of flutes floating through the background.  There are so many great moments to even count here people. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agZqIr37rmE&spfreload=5

Now as I said earlier, this is Thee Oh Sees going for a more Sci-Fi sound,  so you know there’s gonna be plenty of weird stuff going on here.  Most of it works just fine, but there’s some instances I really can’t get over and are just a little too far out there.  Take for example “Jammed Entrance”.  This is easily the track with the most Sci-Fi influence so far.  However, this track is barely even a garage rock tune, this is practically an experimental rock or even a progressive rock track.  The bass here is super funky which I love, but the keyboards to me just get so obnoxious so fast, which really sucks.  Now while this is far from my favorite, it does add to the sheer chaos of the album.  It gives off this great impression that we’re watching some over the top Sci-Fi movie in which the crew on a spaceship has accidentally hit the self destruct button and need to get out.  When it comes to the atmosphere, Thee Oh Sees really nail it.  As far as melodies go and all, they kinda drop the ball here.  The keyboards are a little too cheesy, and to me “Jammed Entrance” would be ten times more interesting watching it live with a little improvisation thrown in there.  It has it’s cool moments, but it certainly didn’t have to be over 5 minutes.  The only other real major problem I have here is on “Unwrap The Fiend, Pt 2”.  The track has a super smooth intro and some great mysterious guitar licks.  Overall it has a lot of the same problems as “Jammed Entrance”.  It does great things for the atmosphere, it really does.  But outside of that it’s just kinda boring.  This is easily the least exciting track on here by far, going back and forth between more funky instrumentals and a more “Jam” oriented feel.  That’s all fine and dandy, its what you would expect out of a Psychedelic band like Thee Oh Sees.  But I feel like this track would be literally so much more interesting live with a little improvisation thrown in.  Like I said though, it absolutely goes with the feel of the album.  

Those are really my only negative thoughts on the album to be honest.  As soon as “Gelatinous Cube” hits, were greeted with this absolutely glorious wall of distortion.  This gigantic wall of sound is broken up quickly by the ferocity of what you would expect from an Oh Sees track.  Dwyer here sounds like an absolute animal, I haven’t heard him with this much aggression in years.  While there are heavier tracks here, this is easily the wildest thing I’ve heard on “A Weird Exits”.  The guitars are unhinged, the drums don’t let up, hell I wouldn’t mind an entire album with this much intensity.  Then we have “Crawl Out From The Fall Out”, which instantly gives me the chills.  The intro of this one is filled with these light cymbal taps and really not that much else, it gives you the impression that something is coming.  The atmosphere gets even more thick when those incredible strings and that horn float into the madness.  I gotta give it to them they really stuck with this Sci-Fi sound so well, this is just so ambitious for them.  However, as far as lyrics, vocals, and energy goes, this really is sort of a snoozefest.  To be perfectly honest, this track would have been a whole lot better as just an instrumental.  It;s still a solid track though, the keyboards add plenty and the backing vocals compliments Dwyer quite a bit.  Which brings us to the album’s finale, “The Axis”.  Were instantly greeted on this one by an oddly cheery, very sunny intro.  As bizarre as that sounds, Thee Oh Sees roll with it wonderfully and I can honestly see them really latching on to that sound.  There are some really old school vibes coming through on this one, and while Dwyer’s performance is on the tame side, his voice is still packed with emotion.  The guitar licks are solid, the keyboards are strong, but honestly it’s not the Oh Sees performance I was expecting at all.  It was a nice surprise though, and literally all of the years of Thee Oh Sees have been feasting on retro sounds have led up to this.  It’s a solid freakin record, but at this point can we really expect much less.  


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB5Nn2FAPTE

Rating: 7.8/10

Give A Listen To: "Plastic Plant", "Gelatinous Cube", "The Axis", "Dead Man's Gun"


Overall Thoughts : For years now, I've been DYING to hear Thee Oh Sees go for a more darker sound like they did on their early recordings.  To an extent, I got that here.  However, with that, comes a much shinier, sweeter production sound that's going to offset a string of longtime fans.  There are a few tracks here that I honestly feel would be much better live with a little extra experimentation and some improv,  However, overall they do the sound justice, especially when you tie in the bands trademark chaos and energy.

Descendents - Hypercaffium Spazzinate

The Descendents are as far as I’m concerned, one of the most important punk bands in history.  Growing up I was always fascinated by the music of Dead Kennedys, Wire, The Buzzcocks, and especially The Descendents.  However, they’ve always struck me as a band that needs some time to create their masterpieces.  When I first heard “Milo Goes to College” I was blown away.  But then when I heard their follow up albums a few short years later, I was equally blown away, but not in a good way.   The songs were still catchy, but had so much less lyrical content, and they just seemed lazy.  Then Descendents took a bunch of years off, and came out with “Everything Sucks”, which honestly I almost enjoyed as much as the classic “Milo Goes To College”.  Since then, they’ve taken a bunch of breaks, come back for some tours, released the solid “Cool To Be You” album, but it’s still been a while since we’ve heard from Milo Aukerman and The Descendents.  Well say no more, here’s the band’s first album in 12 years, “Hypercaffium Spazzinate”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHd-PLgKlbs
(Some classic Descendents, y'all better know this one)

This album starts off fantastically strong, with the unbelievable “Feel This”.  After all these years I’m always so blown away by just how rejuvenated the band sounds after taking time off.  The Descendents sound just as focused as ever, hell I would even say louder than ever, with many moments here rivaling “Everything Sucks”.  Legendary Descendents vocalist Milo Aukerman here sounds just as focused as he has in the past, and with just as much passion.  As to be expected, there are some fantastic vocal harmonies here, and lyrically “Feel This” is really strong too.  It doesn’t overstay its welcome either, only lasting about a minute and 15 seconds.  But, it’s an exhausting, wild track that honestly sets up everything else here fantastically.  Up next we have the first single dropped on the album, “Victim Of Me”.  Compared to the first track here this one is a lot more in the Pop Punk/Power Pop direction, with a much bouncier feel.  However the band are still as focused, just sounding a little bit more fun.  Milo sounds just as passionate delivering his performance, and The Descendents can really do this sound justice.  And while I do enjoy this track still, honestly I really really miss the urgency and raw aggression of the first track on the album.  “Victim Of Me” is still solid though.  The next track though has just the extra energy I was looking for.  “On Paper” right off the bat has a nice bite to it.  Lyric wise, this is fantastic, and paints a fantastic picture of Milo like we haven’t really seen in years.  What made “Milo Goes To College” as perfect as it is, was just how wonderful of a self portrait of it was for Milo Aukerman, and this is honestly the closest I’ve heard to that in what seems like forever.  Outside of the lyrical performance, The Descendents sound just as loud as earlier, while remaining catchy and showing they can still fuse hardcore and power-pop wonderfully.  So far, honestly this is everything I wanted to hear from a Descendents return album.   “Shameless Halo” is up next, and boy these tracks don’t give you even a second to breathe, but that’s the way it should be.  The Descendents continue to sound just as focused, and the harmonious vocals right off the bat just sound fantastic.  Stephen Egerton’s riff here is so driving and solid, while Milo goes back and forth between semi-sweet and rough vocals that just do wonders for “Shameless Halo”.  Descendents don’t really let up as the album moves on either.  “Without Love” ends up being one of the most stand out tracks here, with a smooth, pop punk feel and Milo sounding incredibly comfortable.  Lyrically here, and for the most part the album in general, Descendents come off just as compelling as ever, and most importantly, not outdated.  “Without Love” may be the poppiest track on here, but only The Descendents could pull it off and still seem just so cool.  Honestly, some of the poppier tracks on here make for some of the best moments, such as “Smile”.   “Smile” is borderline a pop rock tune, but to be honest it just works so well with them.  While the instrumentals are aggressive as ever, Milo’s performance here is borderline adorable.  Descendents ladies and gentlemen still sound solid after all these years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ue6vRaLoxk

These fantastic punk jams just keep on going, with the upbeat and jolly “Fighting Myself”.    Milo’s vocals here just drive home the fact that Descendents are one of the most definitive pop punk bands of all time.  The melodies here are nothing short of fantastic and really stick with you, making for some of the catchiest punk rock tracks I’ve heard this year.  Overall I really don’t have a single bad thing to say about “Fighting Myself”.  Then we have the much grimier sounding “Limiter”.  Right off the bat we have these much punchier bass showing that Descendents really haven’t missed a beat instrumentally either.  And hell, if you thought Milo sounded passionate before, “Limiter” is absolutely screaming right in your face.  Lyrically this one is about children taking medication for ADHD, specifically his own son, so you know that this one is hitting super close to Milo.  It’s not my favorite track on here, but man is it ever passionate, and very aggressive.  There are actually a few tracks on here that are on the more aggressive side and I just can’t get into them.  Take for example the early track “Testosterone”.  This one starts off fierce, with a great driving riff.  However once the verses start everything just falls flat.  There are certainly lyrical highlights, but overall I just can't get into the verses here.  When it comes down to it, honestly it's Milo's performance that I can't get into.  His personality is usually a driving force on Descendents tracks, and this one just doesn't click.  The sheer aggression of everything else however, is certainly commendable.  "Comeback Kid" late in the album has a lot of the same problems.  Listening to the beginning of this track, man I had some high hopes, especially since this is one of the heaviest tracks on the album.  However, the lyrics here are just boring as all hell.  They're easily the most repetitive lyrics on the entire album.  While instrumentally most of this track sounds solid, nothing about "Comeback Kid" grabs me.  Then we have "Spineless and Scarlet Red", which isn't necessarily a bad track, but it's one I really did not expect.  Don't get me wrong, this track has an absolutely killer riff, but when it comes to Milo's vocals, they're a little weird.  I'm used to Milo's voice having more of an upper register, but his vocals here are much deeper and darker.  The melodies are still there, and there are some great lyrical moments as well, but Milo's deeper vocals just don't do it for me as much.  And overall there's just such a heavier feel to the track, it's definitely not what I was expecting.  On the other hand though, "Full Circle" is one of the heavier tracks tracks here and it goes over FANTASTIC.  This isn't power-pop, this isn't pop punk, this is melodic hardcore at its best, and it instantly grabs hold and doesn't let up.  Everything here is so damn chaotic, but they still manage to keep their act together for a solid chorus.  And honestly, it's the way it should be, and they really do this sound so much justice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8bJxESTHI4

Now, every Descendents album is certain to come with a few short, hardcore jams.  This album is no different, starting off with the goofy, quirky "No Fat Burger".  On this one, clearly Milo and the boys are just having a little fun, and I don't necessarily mind it.  It's not too goofy to the point where I can't take the album seriously, and Milo's performance is entertaining.  However, you also can't really dig too heavy into these lyrics, so it is what it is.  "Human Being" on the other hand I can't really get to at all.  It's easily the most hardcore thing here, and the chorus is harmonious and solid.  But as far as the verses go, I just can't get into them at all.  Usually I dig these short, hardcore blasts, but "Human Being" comes off as just an afterthought for the most part.  On the other hand, "We Got Defeated" is near perfect.  It's 58 seconds of punky, grimy goodness.  Milo's performance here is absolutely monstrous, he sounds like he's going to smash something any second.  While there are some heavier tracks on the album, "We Got Defeated" is easily the most focused one, and by far the most exciting.  Then we have the album's finale, "Beyond The Music".  For the most part this track is solid, with Descendents going for a poppier sound for the finale.  If your looking for a rough, tough finale you should probably look elsewhere, cause this bouncy riff and biographical performance is pretty sweet.  That's not to say this track takes it easy, the riff is easily just as focused and the band still sound great.  It's not the most exciting ending, but it's a respectable one and it's damn nice to hear.


Rating: 7.6/10

Give A Listen To:  "Feel This", "On Paper", "Full Circle", "Smile"


Overall Thoughts:  It'a a solid freakin album to be honest.  It's not as genre defining as "Milo Goes To College", and it's not as GIGANTIC as a comeback as "Everything Sucks", but the band still sounds so freakin good together.  There are great pop-punk and power pop moments on here, but that doesn't mean that Descendents have gone soft, there are plenty of great hardcore blasts on here as well.  It's not as consistent as their old work either.  But almost 40 years together as a band, and THIS is what you guys are coming out with, that alone is impressive.