Mid-September 2020 Roundup

Posted: 20 September 2020

Books

A Hero of Our Time - Mikhail Lermontov

The older I get the less disagreeable Pechorin becomes. I’ve read this before but picked it up again because I wanted to read about the beautiful Circassian mountains and rivers, and got exactly what I wanted. Mountains, rivers, beautiful refreshing views on horseback, and heartbreak or death for every single character who so much as glances in Pechorin’s direction. An unbelievably powerful ennui.

The Baffler No. 9 - Various (Magazine)

Reading about the labor struggles and political commentary from 1997 and comparing to current labor struggles and political commentary, it doesn’t look like anything has changed. With hindsight, some of the pieces come across as prophetic, some as misguided, but I get the taste of contemporary socialist democrats on twitter who sound like they have the correct ideas but little to no action to back those ideas up. It doesn’t matter how right you are if you can’t do anything. It felt very good to read the essays, however, and I did learn a lot about the labor movements of the mid-late 90s.

Movies

I’m Thinking of Ending Things

I didn’t love this as much as Synecdoche, New York or Eternal Sunshine. It’s a lot subtler than Kaufman’s other work and isn’t constantly explaining itself to you, which I think kind of works given the larger overarching plot of what’s happening, but I also feel like isn’t quite up to the grand scale of his other work. It’s a deeply unhappy person stuck inside their own head, sure, but coming out of it I didn’t feel anything near what I felt with Synecdoche or Eternal Sunshine - it feels like a much shallower emotional story.

This movie feels a little too smart for it’s own good. It’s peppered with references and allusions, large chunks of conversation are taken straight from various other sources, but they don’t really add up to a greater whole. The magic happening throughout the movie and breaks from normal reality might have a deeper purpose but they wind up just being confusing and disorienting. Kaufman’s work has centered around a few key themes like isolation and loneliness, and it seems like he adapted this story less on it’s merits as a movie and more as a convenient vessel to cram in a bunch of his favorite references and explore his favorite ideas of isolation and loneliness.

I dunno, it just feels very shallow compared to his other work - he presents the story as a suspenseful drama movie, where you’re constantly thrown curve balls and trying to figure out what’s going on instead of sitting you down with difficult emotional ideas, and he sneaks in a bunch of references to stuff he likes so that you can do homework later. Cool. It’s not a very pretty movie either, everything is black or blue and super muted, and literally half of the movie is talking heads in a car with nothing in the background. I can see how that works given the plot and themes of the movie, but it’s not really interesting to look at. All that being said, the ballet scene at the end is magnificent, but this movie seems like a pass unless you’re a real Kaufman head.

Adaptation

Kaufman is a really smart writer and this is a very funny and thoughtful movie. I really enjoyed it up until it starts getting smart with the audience when Charlie goes to the writing seminar, because the conceit of Charlie in the movie being the Charlie writing the movie vanishes at that point. There’s a fun “oh I get it” moment but there’s no reason to watch the movie after you “get it” and it clicks.

It’s even deceptive in some ways - the seminar pushes Charlie towards writing an arc for himself where he grows and rekindles his relationship and becomes brave, but this is in the meta- space after he has dissociated his real self from the character in the movie. The real Charlie from the beginning of the movie up to his conversation with McKee in the bar ceases to exist after that conversation. Maybe you could argue that his growth is overcoming his ego and finding a way to end the script, given how that is the explicit conflict he faces - I like that, but I think there being a half hour of movie after that which is unhinged from the established movie reality gets in the way of being able to enjoy this thought.

I might be harping too much about Synecdoche, New York but I think it accomplishes something similar to this movie way more effectively.

I Saw The Devil

Thrilling and suspenseful, although the ending seems a bit rushed - a lot of things happen way too quickly compared to the pacing of the rest of the movie. Maybe a reflection of secret agent (lol) Kim Soo-hyun’s deteriorating mental state, maybe someone telling them to hurry it up, the movie is already two hours long, let’s start wrapping up already.

And Jang Kyung-chul is unrepentant! I’m not sure I’ve met a villain who gets right back to his serial-killer sexual-assaulter ways immediately after being assaulted while commiting horrible crimes. His superhuman ability to withstand being clubbed over the head one million times works in this sense - he’s almost a mythical figure, evil manifest, unstoppable by mortal means. His downfall at the end, the thing that breaks him, being his family that he abandoned is fitting, although a little jarring and not really given proper exposition.

It’s also interesting to consider things from Kim Soo-hyun’s perspective! He wants to get revenge, but he wants to get it by teaching Jang Kyung-chul a lesson, and this is impossible. He “has a weight on his chest” - this weight can never be lifted, and he causes unimaginable harm to others in his pursuit of revenge! The weight only grows! His tears throughout the movie are real, and they will never end - he has no recourse. He will never find peace.

On it’s surface, the movie looks like it’s about the futility of revenge, about the incorporeality of forgiveness. A movie about obsession. I’m going to suggest something that will blow your brain straight out of your head: Jang Kyung-chul is a representation of the world. Kim Soo-hyun is you. He is everybody. Life is full of senseless tragedy that we have to cope with, and there is no compensation. There is never compensation. You can’t get revenge on the random machinations of the universe. You will never be forgiven for being alive. All we can do is plod ahead, repeatedly forced to confront the senselessness that surrounds us, hope not to get caught up in it, and cry.

The Witch

I don’t really understand the acclaim this movie received. It forces you to think and make stuff up if you want to get anything out of it, but I’m not convinced that it really digs deep into much of what it’s exploring. The surreal elements work well, up until the very end, at which point it seems like they’re the entire point of the movie. Did we really need to see the witches?

It’s also really weird watching this having already seen Hereditary and Midsommar, which have a more or less identical ending, with the mysterious forces of the occult winning the protagonists to their side. The formula seems to be to start with a family or group of people with some close relationship that’s under strain, put it under further strain with disappearences and weird behaviors, kill almost everyone, and have the remaining person surrender to the occult forces.

I’m not sure how many times you can watch this same movie before you get tired of it. The conflict could honestly be anything, the movie is vague enough that it almost doesn’t matter. It’s puberty, religion, sin, duty, inter-family conflict, blame, and honestly almost any other kind of conflict you might want to read into it. But it’s never really spelled out, these things are all kind of happening and kind of relevant. So it’s not really clear at the end what the catharsis is - everything? Freedom from every difficulty a person might experience? The message is that people going through difficult situations want to be free of them? Get outta here.

It’s an entertaining movie and a fun watch, but is ultimately unfulfilling, preferring self-indulgence to substance.

Edit a few months later: I think I didn’t give this movie a fair shot. Thinking about it as a movie about growing up it works way better. I take for granted that every character is an adult, living the life and making the decisions an adult would, but this movie is about a kid going through puberty. Nothing makes sense and everything you thought you knew suddenly changes. Who wouldn’t want to run away from all these outside pressures?

Music

Marietta - Summer Death

Another incredible Marietta release. As It Were is a little more matured and polished but Summer Death is an absolutely solid Midwest Emo release. This is a bit more generic Midwest Emo sounding but still has some great tracks like Cinco de Mayo Shit Show and Chase, I Hardly Know Ya.

Marietta - Cuts

An excellent, bite sized LP. The acoustic tracks are good, O.K., Mom is a great, super fun song.

Desaparecidos - Read Music/Speak Spanish

Surprisingly, a Conor Oberst venture! I actually couldn’t tell you what Bright Eyes sound like if you asked me but it’s a name I’m aware of. As far as this goes, solid post-hardcore, although there’s a lot of variety between the songs and I don’t think it always works. The vocals are great and SOME of the guitar tones really work and kind of make me think of Weezer. I really hate some of the guitar tones and weird like. Vibraphone sounds. The songs with less of… that… are a lot better. I like the song Mañana.

Desaparecidos - Payola

This album has less weird sounds than Read Music/Speak Spanish, which I’m on board with. Does some interesting stuff and the guitars make me think of Muse, although I don’t think that’s a good comparison. There’s a really interesting mishmash of sounds - like the song Von Maur Massacre, has the funky guitars and then a very classic punk rocky chorus. Also some of the lyrics get really corny lol like “Anonymous” but I think it’s a nice throwback to the roots of punk with all the political messaging. On the whole though this is another solid album doesn’t really stand out to me, but I could totally see other people liking it a lot more.

For a fun treat, listen to the songs “Mañana” from Read Music/Speak Spanish and “10 Steps Behind” from this album back to back. Where does he get his ideas!

American Football - American Football

This album is inescapable. The most famous house in the world! The opening riff of “Never Meant”! A very definitive (possibly THE most definitive? What’s even a contender?) emo revival album. It’s a little too post-rock-y and downtempo for me, I think it’s just alright. There isn’t enough passion and there aren’t enough chugging guitars for me. That being said, I will love any references to the American Football house forever. Listening to this I’m reminded of something I read once about Sun Kil Moon, which is that it’s a band for people who don’t have enough Seratonin in their brains, and that sentiment comes to mind for me with American Football too. Maybe I would like them more if I felt worse. I think the song “Honestly?” is a jam with the groovy bass line until it becomes sad and boring like the rest of their songs.

Parov Stelar - The Art of Sampling

The first track led me to look up when this album came out and when Random Access Memories by Daft Punk came out because it seemed like a track straight from the latter, if maybe a little less eager to push the boundaries. Past that though it’s smooth sailing, the tracks are jazzy and groovy and probably great for dancing.

Robo Pumpkin - Irresponsible Ghosts

Bedroom emo where the vocals remind me of King Krule at times. I think the music is fine, it didn’t really stand out to me, but I’m super impressed by the bass chops and the fact that it’s a one person act. Looking forward to more from them and seeing how the music evolves!

Dogleg - Melee

Solid screamy indie rock but I found myself thinking that I’d rather be listening to Cloud Nothings or Pile. I love the gang vocals and the screaming is great, the dynamics just seem kind of wack, like every song is just at maximum volume/energy throughout. Maybe it’s the drums, I dunno, but something about this album needs to chill out. The high energy screamy parts are really really well done, they’re just relentless. Dogleg seem like they would have a really really fun live show.

Dogleg - Dogleg

Their earlier LP, way more eased up and less maximal sounding than Melee! I like this album more than Melee, but it’s also less unique sounding/distinctive - Melee is definitely a way more refined album and it’s clear they want to go in a more fun/punchy direction. I like the track Calling Collect a lot. This band is just great at writing bops.

The Starting Line - Say It Like You Mean It

Hey, this cover looks really familiar! Very generic pop-punky emo, not really sure why you would ever listen to this besides nostalgia. Every track is also 4 hours long and there are 100 tracks. Just listen to Blink-182 instead.

I will say this grew on me as I listened to more of it but it seems unbearable if it’s anything but background music.

…Who Calls So Loud - S/T

Extremely good drums and an overall pretty good emo/hardcore album! The songs are kind of long but they move around and take you places, the screaming is good, there are a lot of really interesting ideas and decisions in each song. It’s kind of hard to sit through the whole thing because it’s very abrasive and raw and the songs are on the long side, but it’s worth a listen.

A Great Big Pile of Leaves - You’re Always On My Mind

I was just having a conversation with a coworker earlier today about music genre being a finnicky thing and some bands being associated with a genre based on them being in a certain place in a certain time, and that’s what I think happend with AGBPOL. They have come up in my Spotify suggestions a bunch of times and I always just thought of them as indie rock. But I guess because they were coming onto the scene around the same time as other emo revival bands, some people lump them in? I don’t buy that at all. I’m sure a lot of these songs have a good place on some sort of poppy indie playlist but the longer this album went on the worse I felt about it. Locus of Control is a nauseating song. Not a fan.

Glocca Morra - Just Married

This album rules. Love the vocals, everything sounds great, really high energy, really snappy songs that cover a lot of ground, fun noodles, really fun overall. The little chiptune sounds are a unique addition that work really well within the really messy layered guitars and vocals. Y’All Boots Hats? rules and is such a great way to open up an album. It really unfortunately kind of drags around the middle until Me + Geniene, which is also a great track.

Funeral Diner - Three Sides Dead

Indian Summer really did a number on the post-hardcore scene when you can tell exactly how the screaming will sound as soon as you hear a particular kind of twangy guitar opening up a song. This is a compilation album of all their tracks that were on splits, which I think is kind of unusual and kind of cool. There’s a really nice feeling of balance between the violent moments of shredded guitar chords and strained shouts and the more relaxed sections surrounding them, and I think this is where Funeral Diner really shine. They don’t wear you down and give you little breaks in between the really high energy, in your face sections, but are interesting to listen to throughout. This compilation album is great. It doesn’t get stale, each track is really good and different enough to stay interesting, the album isn’t so agressive that it’s impossible to have on in the background. Really really great.

Funeral Diner - Swept Under

This album is so cool. Funeral Diner seem like they were evolving in a similar way to Unwound and really pushing the boundaries of their music and of musical genre in general before they broke up. Really incredible stuff, way less “standard” sounding than the (well done! but standard nevertheless) emotive hardcore stuff from Three Sides Dead - lot’s of really unusual and interesting musical decisions and directions and they sound fantastic. Borne Upon My Shield and Under are really great tracks. I don’t think the last 2 are as good but they’re not bad.

Sediment Club - Stucco Thieves

Another band featuring a high school acquaintance! I don’t listen to a lot of noise in general, and this veers a bit into like… no wave? type stuff, but this is a super rad album. Cobalt Ruin is a really great track, but they’re all really groovy and way more… melodic? harmonious? Than they initially appear. Honestly I was really surprised to find myself liking this as much as I did given my history with similar music - I’m excited to listen to more.

Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

A very good album, it deserves the recognition it gets. I’m always really shocked by how simple and poignant the lyrics are in these groundbreaking 60’s albums like this and the stuff the Beatles were putting out around the same time.

Decay - Staring At The Sun

Kinda alt-rocky, kinda just a big wall of sound without anything really distinct or interesting, kinda just a boring album. Makes me think of Three Days Grace with slightly more emo sensibilities. Also the songs are all so long! They’re all like 5 minutes long, but they don’t really put that time to use. I liked the song “Misery” the most, it feels like they’re so close to being something I would really like. They just don’t quite click for me.

Heroin - Heroin

The roots! Punchy, to-the-point hardcore songs with a lot of variety and great screaming. The production has a really low-fi feel which I like hearing for hardcore bands. A screamier Minor Threat with quieter vocals, if you will. Leave is a really cool song. I definitely see myself coming back to this album, it fills a really interesting niche between hardcore and post-hardcore.

17° Below - Nothing Matters

Is this band for real having a degree sign in their name. It makes their music a real hassle to find anywhere. That on it’s own is disqualifying. That aside, pretty run of the mill pop punk, sounds like music you might hear on the radio, nothing particularly inspiring. I stopped listening halfway through.

Soulside - Less Deep

Some good old DC hardcore. A solid hardcore album, less agressive and a little easier to listen to/just throw on casually than some other hardcore bands. They get funky and do something interesting with a lot of their songs too, Dreams is a great track and a step removed from being a post-punk song, In Days to Come is a really cool track that also sounds pretty different while still clearly being hardcore.

Soulside - Soon Come Happy

I think it’s great that these old hardcore records are still available but wish they were being shared in some way other than compilation albums - I can’t imagine there are a lot of people who really enjoy or have a good time with 20 track long albums. I wish I could tell which parts of this compilation album came from where, I feel like there’s a shift from Name In Mind to Problems Faced When Traveling, and then again from Punch the Geek to Clifton Wall.

Alright I looked it up, Baby -> Forgiveness was an EP, then Bass -> Otherside was a single, then God City to the end was an LP. The vocals sound different, the songs all feel very different. I feel like they should be discussed seperately instead of lumped together like this, but here we are. That being said, I think Soulside were great and did a lot of really unique and interesting sounding stuff.

The Trigger EP is still very rooted in classic hardcore sounds but does a lot of sonically interesting stuff and has a lot of varation and is a really cool EP. Bass*103 is similar to Trigger. Hot Bodi Gram starts getting way out there and is very different, a huge movement in a post-hardcore direction. The vocals are more gravelly and strained, the music more sparse and desolate. It’s my least favorite part of the compilation - they were obviously growing and changing, but I don’t think this direction really worked.

Funeral Diner - The Underdark

A more post-rocky direction for this post-hardcore band and I think it works really well. I love the long, slow guitar build ups to the breakdowns and cascades of loudness and anger and misery crashing down. Really great stuff, I found myself thinking “hell yes” multiple times while listening. The drumming on this album is really outstanding. I think the weakest moments are peaks when the guitars are all playing while the singer is screaming, and that the moments when they ease off a bit and play more melodically are way better, but they create so many beautiful sounds on this album that it’s easy to overlook when it doesn’t quite work.

Really majestic tracks, really glad I found out about this band and listened to them. The album is great but I especially liked every track starting with “It’s Good That We Never Met”, the insanely good transition into “Two Houses”, and every track through the end of the album.

Into It. Over It. - Standards

This album managed to overcome my initial negative inclination towards it, I think it’s great. I’m not entirely sure what my bias against it was, definitely something to do with the terrible band name, and something to do with the twinkly, almost indie-rock sounding emo tunes. I’m all aboard though.

Really easy to listen to but with plenty of spice to keep you interested, each song is different, it’s a great album. The ballady songs like “Your Lasting Image” and “Old Lace and Ivory” don’t work for me (and honestly, I don’t believe that ANYBODY likes the weirdly slow songs in the middle of otherwise pretty normal rock-ish albums. I hate ballads on rock albums!!!!! Get a room!!!!) but it’s a fun album to listen to regardless with a lil’ something for everybody. The slower tracks towards the end of the album work/fit way better. The vocals are a lil bit like death cab.

I kind of like how slow paced all the songs are, it’s nice to have something slower after listening to a bunch of hardcore. A good album to put on before going to bed.

Il Mare di Ross - Fin.

Very rough album, doesn’t feel like the songs are… finished? Like in Il 14 di aprile, the transitions from verse to chrous feel bizarre, and the drumming in the chorus/bridge part is really sloppy and all of the instruments sound of out sync with each other. The melodic ideas seem cool, just really poorly executed. The vocals are not my favorite either, but they’re executed fine. They sound like black metal vocals! They’re too growly to have throughout the entire songs!

The Microphones - Microphones in 2020

Phil Elverum is tuned into something exceedingly true and beautiful with his music. He recalls his own life and everything he’s put all of his time and effort into, looks back on it, thinks about who he is now, who he was then, who he was in between. He is inside his own head, self-conscious that all of his songs are identical, that he’s re-treading tired ground, showing that a 44 minute song is about the same things that all of his prior music is about, that all of his future music will be about.

There is a solace to be found in his constantly re-treading the same paths that we all do, creating beautiful sounds and helping us understand the universality and shared pain that we all experience as people. It’s stirring and resonant and inspiring and sad and true and makes me want to cry. The sun relentlessly rises still.

Billy Cobb - Zerwee

Tribute bands/cover bands are kind of interesting when you think about it, there aren’t really good examples in other arts I think - people might copy art styles in painting or writing styles, but they don’t make a career out of recreating like. Exact works. Nobody is republishing The Lord of the Rings and calling it their own work. There’s some room for nuance here obviously, but generally speaking, I don’t think I’ve come across a phrase like “Oh yeah, this author wrote a spiritual sequel to Anna Karenina.”

There’s being influenced by a band, and there’s trying to sound exactly like another band. Billy Cobb tries to create another Weezer album - I think the track “The Shell Shack” gets there, but there rest? I dunno. It’s not my thing. To be honest I think Ozma’s Rock and Roll Part Three is a much better album that sounds a lot like Weezer, but Pinkerton is also my favorite Weezer album.

As far as Zerwee goes, I think this is a more interesting album to think about than to really listen to, besides that one track. But I think there’s something to be said about getting sick of waiting for a band you like to make an album and making it yourself - moving from passive consumption of art to making it by yourself for yourself. How much music (art in general, really) is made because the musicians had fun doing it, and how much is made because the musician felt like they had something to say and they were sick of waiting for someone else to do it for them?

Common Sage - Might As Well Eat Chicken […]

What a long album title! Otherwise pretty standard emo fare, some fun guitar parts but they don’t feel like they really build up to anything with them, and what they do build up to doesn’t feel like it was worth it. The vocals are fine but not my favorite. Saw Daddy is a really cool song up until the bridge/guitar solo (?) around 2 minutes in and I’d like to see them exploring these kind of weird directions. The intermissions were also really cool to hear. Hopefully this band find their voice and come into their own, right now it feels like they’re still searching.

Glocca Morra - Ghoul Intentions

I dunno, this didn’t seem great to me. Very raw and unrefined feeling guitars and screaming, I like the singer’s voice a lot, but the entire package with the drums and instruments just feels too in-your-face. I wish they would pump the brakes a bit. The better production on Just Married really worked out well for their sound, I think.

Common Sage - Where are you? […]

Very modest mouse-y emo! I think this is a lot more interesting than their recent release. I think a more emo-y modest mouse band would honestly be a great niche, but the songs on this album also get kind of jam band-y and really drag out without taking you anywhere. A really cool listen if you’re into like, Interstate 8 or Good News by Modest Mouse. You can really clearly hear the influences on the song Roadkill. A lot of cool ideas on this album, the song Sure Is Weird rules, but as a whole it is a bit unfocused.

Frankie Cosmos - Zentropy

Really beautiful, fun indie pop to remind you that life moves on and we all, on some level, go through the same thing and feel the same feelings.

Frankie Cosmos - Vessel

Everything Frankie Cosmos puts out is great. This album is fantastic, a bit darker and sadder than Zentropy, a more grown up look at familiar topics and being a musician and experiencing terrible, sad feelings and everything else that goes along with life. Indie pop sounds with themes and melodies to pull at your heart strings.

as a sketch pad - as a sketch pad

Just fine midwest emo out of Japan, surprisingly with singing in English. I do think it’s really cool how vibrant and thriving the Japanese emo/math rock scene is but this isn’t a particularly interesting example.

EXHALTANTS - Atonement

This album will chew you up and spit you out. Super heavy chuggy noise rock out of Texas. Very reminiscent of The Jesus Lizard or early Shellac. Really cool that people are still making music like this today, if you’re into noise this is a really great album. I think it’s really interesting on it’s own, the tracks all feel very different and sound really good, but they’re maybe too heavy for my tastes: I had to take a couple of breaks while listening through. Towards the last few tracks it definitely feels like it got more melodic and post-* y which I appreciated and thought was a great way to mix it up.

Susso - Keira

A soothing, healing album - rhythm driven music from outside the western ouvre to reprogram your tired brain and remind you that there are other people out there. Really fantastic stuff. I really really like anything with a big variety of percussion or anything really percussion focused, and the more contemporary/western production isn’t too pronounced and works really well.

Fleetwood Mac - Tusk

It’s hard for me to formulate my thoughts about this album. It’s very uneven but when it’s good it’s good. The Ledge is a really fun song but it includes a crazy banjo sound never before or since heard in music. It feels like it should end on Tusk but then you get Never Forget. Fleetwood Mac were a very good band and I have a lot of respect for Lindsey Buckingham. This album feels good to listen to from start to finish. Something about it just doesn’t click with me.

The Flaming Lips - Soft Bulletin

Kind of boring, almost unpleasant to listen to. Every song is really weirdly arranged and you can’t just let them play and enjoy them, they all constantly do different weird sounding stuff and are in your face about it.

Twain - Rare Feeling

Kinda Wilco, kinda Whitney, kinda Father John Misty. “The Sorcerer” was a song I heard at the right time and really appreciate. What a good song. The rest of the album is fine, it’s a bit minimal for my tastes but fine to have on and listen to and definitely has a place and a ~ mood ~.

SPORT - Bon Voyage

This album rules, fantastic emo. Everyone online compares them to Cap’n Jazz but I only see that in the lead singer’s voice, the music itself is way more coentemporary noodly emo sounding. Great skits, great riffs, great energy, great gang vocals, great strained shouting/singing.

My only complaint is that some of the songs don’t feel finished? Reggie Lewis stops very suddenly and feels like it could’ve been developed some more. The songs have a lot of movement within them and evolve and I feel like the 3min+ songs give them a little more room to develop and resolve their ideas. It’s so easy to forgive though, this album is so good - Reggie Lewis cuts off abruptly into Eric Tabarly, which rules, and bygones are bygones.

Update after listening to this album three times: Actually, it’s fine, and works as a transition between the songs. Could be a little smoother but it works and I love it. I can’t stop listening to this album.

SPORT - Slow

They let the guitarists go a little too far with this one, it lacks the energy of Bon Voyage and descends into meandering post-rocky guitar lines that don’t go anywhere for really long stretches of time.

BROCKHAMPTON - GINGER

A very cool album! It moves around a lot genre-wise and there are a ton of different sounds but it’s thematically super strong. The stretch from ST.PERCY to DEARLY DEPARTED is insanely good, this album makes a lot of sense and tries to take you to the places the singers are showing you.

Knope - An Exercise in Patience

There’s a banjo on the first track lol, but I really like Knope, I think the vocalist is great. I think only the first track on this LP really stands out, wasn’t in love with the rest of it.

Sympathy Card - If I Can’t Learn to Hate You

Kind of annoying emo without anything that really stands out.