So these aren’t initial impressions. Or even second or
third. This is like the sixth time I’ve listened to this album this week, which
is probably a little telling about what direction this live review will go. I
heard €30,000 (more on that to come) at the start of the week and immediately
went and listened to the whole album. That’s not necessarily a done deal
because it’s happened before with poor results (I’m looking at you, The
Thermals) but it seems to have worked out pretty well this time around.
https://emperorx.bandcamp.com/album/oversleepers-international
https://emperorx.bandcamp.com/album/oversleepers-international
Wasted On The Senate Floor
I actually thought this song was too noisy the first time
around. I could hear some of the lyrics but not all of them and I was annoyed
by the ska horns and what felt like overtly political lyrics. Man, would I have
ever loved this song in high school. It’s pretty catchy in the chorus area but
I still can’t really tell what he’s saying. I think that’s a good thing because
I feel like I’m humming along to a song I don’t like.
Schopenhaeur In Berlin
Flu shot, immunity…there’s a lot of talk of illness on this
album ranging from mild irritation to terminal. Oh neat, I just noticed that in
this song we’re passed out on the floor and in the last song we were wasted on
the floor. I love the continuity here even if I didn’t love that last song.
Some discussion of flights too and I know from my future psychic ability that
there will be lots more time spent on airplanes on the album. I really love the
way the guitar strumming blends with the drumming on this song. I don’t
actually know who Schopenhaeur is and maybe it’s not relevant but it feels like
a name that was chosen because LONG FOREIGN NAME I’M BOTH CULTURED AND INTELLECTUAL.
You know what, it’s fine. Because I love songs where the singer says “la la la”
and he does that here.
€30,000
OK, so I’ve been waiting and waiting and have to finally get
to it: DAVID CROSS VOICE. Part of what got me paying attention to the song the
first time I heard it was the fact that I was 100% sure it was David Cross
singing. To the point that I searched everywhere online to see if “Emperor X”
was a pseudonym for him since he’s done that in the past (Sir Willups
Brightslymoore on Aqua Teen Hunger Force). All I could find was someone else
asking the question on Twitter but only one mention || But back to this song –
it’s so good! The intro sets you up perfectly for a sharp but sensitive burst
of sound and then it’s catchy with a pretty chorus of voices in the background.
Which is even better because this song is depressing as hell. As a single song
this is some of the best writing I’ve heard recently. I love using the numbers
in each line to move the song along through the language of going back and
forth in this awful process. About 30 seconds from the end there’s a goofy “NYAH,
NYAH” refrain underneath everything else that makes me smile because 1) It’s
not as annoying as it probably should be and actually works with the song and
2) It really sounds like David Cross.
Brown Recluse
Hey, guess what? Everyone is scared of brown recluses
(reclusi?). So here’s another rotten subject contrasted with so far the most
mellow song on the album. There’s some John Darnielle hanging out in here with
David Cross but more than that there are a few interesting piano riffs climbing
up and down the web of spider-related lyrics. Excellent BANG the piano to close
out the song.
Tanline Debris
This song hasn’t actually done a lot for me so far. The
start-stop nature of it is a little hard for me and makes me think of the parts
of Pere Ubu that I don’t like. But the guitar tone and snare drum pretend claps
aren’t entirely objectionable. I just want them to be part of a song that doesn’t
have a stroke every 15 seconds.
Warmth Perimeter
Wait, is this song from the album? I’m pretty sure that once
the new age meditation sounds give way to the baby robot that the baby robot is
actually David Cross 2000 Jr and we’re back on track. This is definitely a
break from what I’ve heard so far. I guess it’s fine but it sounds kind of like
music from a Pride parade float. It pretty much forgets about itself by the end
and then it’s over with a little baby robot fart.
Oversleepers International
Oh heck yeah – we’re back on track! Little hand claps that I
don’t have to clap along to if I don’t want to and John Darnielle Not John Darnielle
is asking me about trust falls. I do, Not John, I do. This song is the perfect
companion to €30,000 in tone and content. More airplanes, foreign countries,
poor decisions…but just different enough that I can’t decide which I like
better. Oh wait…at two minutes there’s a really dumb bridge repeating “It’s not
easy to know” with harder guitar and I sure don’t like this part. OK, maybe I
like 30,000 a little better. This is still solid and now Not John is asking me
if I still believe. I think I do. I
really like casual additions like “my choices were lame”.
God Save Coastal Dorset
This sounds like an Andrew Bird song played on a crappy
boombox. That’s not terrible, plus Not John just rhymed with “old man”. I’m
just waiting for him to say “Scythian empires”. Oh my goth (not fixing it) he
just said “empires” after all! Maybe this is all intentional. That’s kind of an
abrupt ending, but I guess I was ready for it to be done.
Low Orbit For Ion Cannon
Are these song names supposed to go together? I feel like
this has some relationship to Warmth Perimeter but so far there are no farting
robots. There are a lot of robot-like things being discussed though. It’s
pretty sing-y and I don’t know that Not John is the best singer in the world,
especially when he tries to hold high notes. The “hello” echo is pretty fun. I’m
ready for him to go back to fast-paced sing-talking though. I don’t feel as
much as I’m probably supposed to right now. It was very polite of him to say “goodbye”
at the end.
Riot For Descendent Command
More things for other things that are vaguely militaristic
in the title. Hahaha…The way this song opens makes me laugh. It sure does sound
like a fun adventure to go burn a cop car – I’ll come too! The clapping as a rhythmic
device is growing on me, although there’s another herky jerky part in the middle
of this song. I’ll be more forgiving here because it’s a tonal change when we
prevent the apocalypse together. Sometimes you have to herk and jerk when that
happens. I still don’t like when he holds his singing notes but everything else
was pretty agreeable.
5-Hour Energy, Poland 2017
Wait, now I’m wondering if these song titles are actually
intentional or if this guy is just some trust fund kid who joyrides all over
the world and talks about how political he is. I just looked and this song is
11 minutes and 11 seconds. That seems about how long five-hour energy drinks
actually last and I love repeated digits so I won’t be annoyed. It took me
about 20 seconds to realize it but I think this repeating pulse/buzz started
around 3:30. Boy, it’s really going on and on. It’s not too bad though. Easy
enough to have in my ears. Feels like it’s picking up a little around nine
minutes but it’s still…pulsing and buzzing.
Download links:
Nippyshare
My sketchy personal server
No comments:
Post a Comment