I have no frame of reference, I don’t even know what genre it is but my husband wants me to live review. I suspect I won’t like it very much because we have different tastes. He was all geeked out about that Moses Sumney album and it wasn’t that great. Every time someone says “you’ll really love this” then you’re let down. If you don’t have any expectations then you don’t have to feel like “this is a piece of crap” and can say “oh, it’s not that crappy”. Like Fight Club.
Also, I’m painting so if it goes against painting I might not like it based on that. If it’s not a good painting album.
What’s the first track called? Oh…god…
1. Suck The Blood From My Wound
That sounds like the baby. Is the baby waking up? Did he say “I woke up bleeding in the crapper”? haha…HAHA…oddly enough, this reminds me of Hedwig. Who’s Tom? Oh; I thought you said “Tom and Hedwig”. I keep thinking “a cross between Trent Reznor and Bonn Jovi”. It has that “we’re traveling on…” and then some weirdo part. It could almost be upbeat if the lyrics weren’t so nutso goth. It’s an uplifting tune about vampirism.
Do you know how old this dude is? I always wonder where these kids get their influences.
Is that a Romeo and Juliet quote?
2. Driving Down To LA
Is this a guy a girl. Is he gay? Androgynous? I was just caught a little off guard by “driving with my baby” and what they were doing. I just assumed Ezra was a boy. What’s the name of the album? [Transangelic Exodus] OK…It has a very vampire-y vibe so far.
3. God Lifts Up The Lowly
COUGH COUGH COUGHING COUGH
I just think I would like this better if it had different lyrics. The lyrics fill me a lot with “what the hell are you talking about dude? Kind of seems like a little bit of a narcissist too. No one gives a shit about your angel, dude. I guess you have to write about something, but it could be anything else at this point. Is this about heroin? It makes more sense if it’s about heroin. That’s sort of a cop-out though…it’s so Lou Reed. “I get street cred ‘cause I’m writing about heroin.”
You have to decide if we’re talking about this as we go. Because if you talk it’s going to change my perception and that will change the live review.
4. No Place
I’m definitely feeling the androgynous, David Bowie rocker. You can see where the influences are coming in. That’s why I’m getting the Hedwig too because there’s a lot of Bowie there. And there’s the Trent Reznor too.
Doesn’t this sound like the drum line from the pig song? What the heck is the name of that song? You know that Nine Inch Nails album. Mixed with like…a superhero horn section. I know it’s not like Captain America but kinda sounds like it.
5. The Great Unknown
It that like an elephant or something in the background? An ostritch? It kinda sounds like an elephant. We’re driving again. That’s so like, Bon Jovi/Jon Mellencamp throwback.
6. Compulsive Liar
What’s this track called? It definitely sounds like he’s trying to sort out some sexual issues. Is this his first album? Hmm…
7. Maraschino-Red Dress $8.99 At Goodwill
HAHAHA…so he’s Jewish! That makes sense…Ezra.
8. From A Beach House
This has a very…like…musical soundtrack feel to it too. Like Rocky Horror or something. Definitely taking a ton of influence from sexually-androgynous glam rock. It’s almost trying too hard – It’s trying to jam too many things into one. It’s like having a conversation with someone who wants to prove how smart they are, only about music. Which is a bummer, because I kind of like the music. It’s reasonable to paint to.
9. Love You So Bad
A lot of metaphor in this song. Did he just say, “I wanted your penis so bad”? I hope that’s not what he said. I’m glad he got away from the metaphors. It was kind of screwing me up.
10. Come Here Get Away From Me
Oh! It’s Frank Black! I was trying to think of what it was reminding me of. This feels more genuine though than some of the other stuff on the album. HAHA…”come here…”. Give me a kiss…
11. Peel My Orange Every Morning
It’s very specific. It makes me a little bit uncomfortable that when he’s…I think it’s OK to sing about whatever…like personal feelings. But when you get really specific like “the hotel manager is going to pick up the peels” maybe you could make it a little more inclusive. That’s where I’m getting the narcissistic thing. Because it feels a little bit like a therapy session. I can’t think of the name of the album where they’re talking about their cousins or whatever…Carissa…it was just a little bit too self-referential. It pulls me out of the music a lot. Because I’m like…uhhhh… I don’t know that I want to get that intimate before we’ve really met each other. I think you see it a lot with juvenile artists too. They want to get a reaction so they do things that are personally embarrassing to get attention.
12. Psalm 151
I thought you could type really fast. I don’t want to have an incomplete live review. I’m actually liking this song so far. It’s really the type of song I want to hear in the middle of an album. I’m assuming this is the middle of the album. I guess I shouldn’t assume that but…I’m not looking at a track list. Based on time. Kind of heavy, kind of emotional, a little bit slower than the beginning tracks. A good mid-album song. I’m going to laugh if this is the end of the album.
13. I Lost My Innocence
Does he have split personalities? I feel like half the album Is written from a male perspective and the other is from a female perspective, like alternating every other song. Maybe it has been and I haven’t noticed? I’ll have to listen to it again. This would be really fun if it had an animation that went with it. You’ll need to get right on that.
That’s the end? Oh. That was jarring. I think this album could use a lot of…well…first I think it needs some edit. And I think the track list should be rearranged. Cause that last song was not an end of album song. Maybe like a “second track” song. I don’t know which one I’d have come first. Definitely not the first one we heard, because that was not a good way to start the album.
Overall I had a pretty good impression because it harkens to a lot of things I really love. But it doesn’t do those thing particularly well. But it doesn’t do them particularly poorly either so I can’t totally hate it. I think I’d be more forgiving if it was his first album, but I get a sense that he surrounds himself with people that don’t ever tell him anything negative about himself. I think he could really benefit from someone being a little…um…mean…maybe not mean but he needs an editor…what’s a music editor called? Someone to cut it down. I think this guy would do an amazing job at making a theme album – like one solid idea to go through the whole thing. I don’t know if the female back and forth was on purpose but he could play that up a bit and that could be kind of fun.
I would definitely listen to it again. Even though it was a little bit heavy I appreciated that it was a little bit pop music-y too. Like heavy lyric-wise. I’m glad we listened to it together because I think it has things that we both really love so it was nice to share that together. I don’t know that I’d want to listen to it with someone that hadn’t heard Hedwig or listen to music that had references to homosexuality or gender-ambiguous stuff. A lot of people get really uptight about that crap.
Final Rating: Six out of nine princess points.
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