titus andronicus - the monitor

btw sarge i assume u r familiar with this kickass song which may or may not have bagpipes but kinda sounds like it has bagpipes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-64CaD8GXw

DUH

cmon son, i've watched "the departed" like 15 times

i know this tbh i just wanted an excuse to find it on youtube

my roommates are all gone so i listened to this on our big speakers, and dang -- i might've thrown my ps3 out of my living room window at one point

i love that this is such a formless album -- if i never saw it broken down on itunes i'd have a tough time figuring out what the tracks are -- it's like moments of triumph and calls to arms amongst a bunch of sprawling, growling mess and that really feels right

so on "the battle of hampton roads" it hit me that he is driving the fuck away from her flooring it screaming out of boston back to jersey and as he's driving he starts howling "please don't ever leave"

fuck

word -- i listened to this str8 thru in the car -- some real shit

ok so hey y'all

Saw this band rock the fuck out in a house party basement setting just now. Real nice folks with a great tight vibe. I heard a little bit of Springsteen maybe, but a lot more Mekons circa Rock & Roll with a dash of Fugazi sweaty group mindmeld. Lotsa anthemic chord progressions, and the electric violin also really recalls Mekons stuff. Great moments with three gtr players all hammering some simple 3-or-4-chord thing, several times I could have listened to them keep it up for ten minutes (usually it was over in 1 or 2). Typical basement PA garbage meant most of the vocals were lost, but the passion shone through loud and clear.

Also, they sounded nothing at all like Bright Eyes, who I have seen as well.

Conclusion: all hype is deserved.

It is important in this life to sound nothing at all like Bright Eyes.

it's more the vocals that do remind me a lot of earlier bright eyes..i can ttly i.d. w/ that comparison, also i dont dislike bright eyes

lol'd at the line 'prepare to be told that shits gay dude'

beginning of 'to old friends and new' sounds like loving cup

2d half of this album is my fav

The video reminds me of the Replacements and the Gaslight Anthem. Perhaps I will investigate further.

...though i gotta say i ain't feeling that beard

am listening to this...not bad at all

never heard of these dudes but yalls enthusiasm is contagious

i've been driving around looking at apartments all day just leaving hampton roads on repeat

when they go back in doubletime on "cause my enemy" i go the fuck OFF in my car

motherfuckers at stoplights be like O_O

motherfuckers behind keyboards be like :D

really tho i havent been this happy about a rock album since like, gaslight anthem

"IT's NOT THE END OF THE WORLD!" *sky falls*

^slays me

It is important in this life to sound nothing at all like Bright Eyes.

can't be said enough.

incredible vocal doubletracking at the end of "four score and seven" - about halfway through the "it's still us against them!" chants the second voice becomes increasingly wearly, signifying for me this amazing detached sentiment saying basically "i'm getting fucking tired of this"

weary*

"IT's NOT THE END OF THE WORLD!" *sky falls*

― k3vin k., Wednesday, March 31, 2010 7:35 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^slays me

― k3vin k., Wednesday, March 31, 2010 7:35 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark

yes -- this might be my fav moment on the whole album

And I know it won't do much good
Getting drunk and sad and singing
But I'm at the end of my rope
And I feel like swinging

dope lyrics

i've been thinking about this album a lot in the context of, like, sufjan's 'illinois'

yessssssssssss i feel like swinging made me O_O when i got it

and yeah like this is that rare record where it gets at me emotionally on a personal level and also is really Saying Something Important and also has really rich music that i can get all cerebral about and be like "man did you hear the way those horns went into counterpoint and do you feel the emotional resonance of that minor thing they're hitting"

"IT's NOT THE END OF THE WORLD!" *sky falls*

― k3vin k., Wednesday, March 31, 2010 7:35 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i think it would be so dope if they made a video for this song and it was like ""IT's NOT THE END OF THE WORLD!"" *fireworks" -- would be the most heroic shit ever

like the horns in the leadup to the bagpipes on hampton roads fuckin KILL me

xp yeah i think it's easy for the straight musicianship to get lost in how intentionally messy the album is -- something like "a pot in which to piss" builds so well, it doesn't rely on the monster solo as a crutch or anything & they don't introduce the pianos as signposts, it all really builds throughout the song

& something like "to old friends and new" has the same sort of release of tension as the songs w/ big solos even tho it doesn't have anything like that -- stickles is p much a genius tbh

hoos, last night i realized that a dude shouting "gimme a whiskey!" over classic bar band riffage is the biggest hoosnip ever

lol otm

looking forward to my local getting this on the juke so i can jam out with overpriced jameson & coke

just bought this due to all the positive stuff I've heard. vocals definitely sound like a mix of Conor Oberst/Will Sheff.

ok i'm only as far as "you'll always be a loser" and it resonates, so

Smoking’s been okay so far, but I need something that works faster,
So all I want for Christmas is no feelings, no feelings now and ever again

Yes, I have surrendered what made me human and all that I thought was true,
So now there’s a robot that lives in my brain and he tells me what to do.
And I can do nothing without his permission or wasn’t part of the plan,
So now in Rock Ridge pharmacy I will be waiting for my man.

^love the delivery here

IF I CAME IN ON A DONKEY
I HOPE I'M GOIN OUT ON A GURNEY

"theme from 'cheers'" is the song that has grown to knock me out once i've got accustomed to all of the heart-exploding solos & stuff

So let's get fucked up, and let's pretend we're all okay.
And if you've got something that you can't live with,
Save it for another day, all right?
Save it for another day.

i mean, let's get it imo

it's just, maybe i haven't listened to my fair share of anthemic rock music or w/e, but this album comes off as some raggedy, stream of conscious gut spilling, but it's such a well orchestrated album -- every song is long for a reason and pays off every single time & all of them have great musical moments, & as much as i love the last album, this album def strikes me as the work of a dude who is a super talented musician with as many good ideas as the touted indie bigwigs

like, "to old friends and new" shows that he doesn't have to resort to the heart-exploding solos to have a payoff that's affecting & cathartic -- in fact, the rising guitar squall + horns in the middle of that song probably hit harder than the solos & guitar codas depending on what mood you're in, and it's a very restrained and beautiful climax (not to mention the sing along) that really stands out amongst the rest of the songs

i'm also super glad that they had the wherewithal to do the whole cheesy sax solo + piano solo routine on "...and ever"

i haven't been this glad at a decent # of ilxors really taking to an album in a long time

i would like to personally apologize to patrick stickles for being too broke to purchase your album

i need to see this album played straight through live, preferably w/ big hoos doing slam poetry as the opener tbrr

i can't tell if i would try and mosh during the climax of "battle of hampton roads" or if i would just collapse into someone's arms

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22fucking+bagpipes%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

my mans here has really good quality live video here http://www.youtube.com/user/ZacMagnum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U52u-UtWd1Y&feature=related