I'm six songs into Clean so far and wow it's amazing
― josh az (2011nostalgia), Tuesday, 27 February 2018 08:49 (six years ago) link
It is. I'd been kind of lukewarm on her stuff previously, but "Skin" has been life-changing on this particular Friday.
― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 3 March 2018 01:08 (six years ago) link
so far i'm liking this less than Collection, as a front-to-back listen. some of the slower soft ones don't drive me wild and there are too many of them. love the taut garagey of 'your dog', 'last girl', 'cool' (which are the best songs she's ever written imo). incredibly talented songwriter
― flopson, Monday, 26 March 2018 05:42 (six years ago) link
She’s great but I think this “band name” is a really poor choice, at least for an artist of her style. Maybe for a zany teenage punk band or something.
― absorbed carol channing's powers & psyche (morrisp), Monday, 26 March 2018 16:18 (six years ago) link
i agree. i'm not normally a "can't get past the name" person - in fact it always annoys me - but Soccer Mommy is not a good choice here.
― alpine static, Monday, 26 March 2018 19:06 (six years ago) link
I'm ALMOST past the name "Car Seat Headrest" (a band I love)... lol
― absorbed carol channing's powers & psyche (morrisp), Monday, 26 March 2018 19:10 (six years ago) link
Collection had a lot of modest pleasures, but Clean is a huge leap forward. She really leveled up everything for this one; better songs, more surprises, striking production.
― Evan R, Monday, 26 March 2018 19:16 (six years ago) link
I like her but honestly if I hadn't stumbled across her video, I would've never checked it out based on the name
― tinnitus the night (Ross), Monday, 26 March 2018 19:18 (six years ago) link
name rules fyi
― flopson, Monday, 26 March 2018 21:46 (six years ago) link
more surprises, striking production.
i don’t like the hard stereo pan in the opener
― flopson, Monday, 26 March 2018 21:47 (six years ago) link
She and her band are playing dates w/Liz Phair, which almost seems a little too "on the nose" for a pairing... probably good exposure, tho
― absorbed carol channing's powers & psyche (morrisp), Tuesday, 27 March 2018 16:27 (six years ago) link
Name is good, I was wrong. Where should I start with her music ?
― after party for the apocalypse (Ross), Sunday, 15 April 2018 16:38 (five years ago) link
There’s only two albums, no?
― absorbed carol channing's powers & psyche (morrisp), Sunday, 15 April 2018 16:53 (five years ago) link
3 albums and some EPs i believe
― after party for the apocalypse (Ross), Sunday, 15 April 2018 16:55 (five years ago) link
Clean is such a good record
― done and dusted (Ross), Saturday, 28 April 2018 14:59 (five years ago) link
Heavy Mirah vibes
― done and dusted (Ross), Saturday, 28 April 2018 15:04 (five years ago) link
Still maintain a lot like Mirah. Love it
― done and dusted (Ross), Friday, 4 May 2018 05:10 (five years ago) link
great record
― Ross, Friday, 10 August 2018 16:05 (five years ago) link
yes. been listening to it a lot this week.
― geoffreyess, Friday, 10 August 2018 16:22 (five years ago) link
same, not sure why but like it hits the spot - rocks out, has lots of nice mellow tracks-chill rockers
does not lose the momentum, which is kinda a problem i have with the snail mail record - too many slow tracks near the end deflates the balloon
― dj screwed (Ross), Friday, 10 August 2018 16:24 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTc1w32Vbeo
this new one is really pleasant
― ufo, Tuesday, 14 January 2020 21:53 (four years ago) link
I wish I heard some of the piercing sadness of Clean in the new songs, but will withhold judgment until I hear the full album -- maybe she's releasing the stuff that sounds different first, trying to avoid getting pigeonholed.
"Circle the Drain" is catchy but I'm not crazy about that super-clean production style, which for some reason (???) makes me think of the second Third Eye Blind album.
― handsome boy modelling software (bernard snowy), Tuesday, 21 January 2020 15:16 (four years ago) link
way to get me to listen to this bernard
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 21 January 2020 15:21 (four years ago) link
wonderful song
― I have not yet begun to fart (rip van wanko), Tuesday, 21 January 2020 16:19 (four years ago) link
Really loving this album.
― Luna Schlosser, Sunday, 1 March 2020 01:26 (four years ago) link
so good. serious mary lou lord vibes on a few songs too.
― akm, Sunday, 1 March 2020 01:51 (four years ago) link
I like a lot of the melodies and stuff on this album, but the energy is so down across the entire thing. I miss the louder, chunkier moments that bubbled up on Clean.
― Johnny Fever, Sunday, 1 March 2020 04:35 (four years ago) link
My initial impression is that I like it a lot, but I need to give it some time.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Sunday, 1 March 2020 05:00 (four years ago) link
I love this
― circa1916, Sunday, 1 March 2020 14:08 (four years ago) link
Not sure how much space I have these days for this type of music , but this is really great. I would have lapped it up 25 years ago
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 3 March 2020 15:38 (four years ago) link
Surprised by the small number of posts in here. Clean was a favorite.
This one can be a bit slow paced (feels like side A could use a couple of 3 minute tracks to get this thing moving) but I really like the tunes. Nice melodies that recall Phoebe Bridgers / Jay Som / Japanese Breakfast / Snail Mail.
― Indexed, Tuesday, 10 March 2020 18:13 (four years ago) link
i haven't heard any of her other music but this album is great
― J0rdan S., Sunday, 21 June 2020 08:42 (three years ago) link
"circle the drain" is quite easily one of the best indie rock songs of the year, "night swimming" and "yellow is the color of her eyes" are also knockouts. both surprised and not to find out that the producer she worked w/ also did the last war on drugs record -- this album is shimmery and enveloping in a similar way to me. generally i just love the textures throughout.
― J0rdan S., Sunday, 21 June 2020 08:51 (three years ago) link
she's a very direct and efficient lyricist, love that kind of writing. "gray light" has some incredible lines
― J0rdan S., Sunday, 21 June 2020 08:58 (three years ago) link
I really like "Royal Screw Up" but my daughter assures me that it's because I tend to like songs of that type
― assert (MatthewK), Sunday, 21 June 2020 09:00 (three years ago) link
ready to fight over this album
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 24 June 2020 07:07 (three years ago) link
No need, it's a good one
― boxedjoy, Wednesday, 24 June 2020 07:47 (three years ago) link
swam back to the shorelineand found that all you left me was a notei read it slowyou said that you had loved mebut you knew that you would end up on your owna sinking stone
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 24 June 2020 07:50 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oji9RtJkNu4
the gentle fog of noise enveloping her in this performance ._.
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 24 June 2020 08:00 (three years ago) link
i want someone who's following a dreamsomeone like mewho feels the air inside their body running freei want the breeze
well the moon is in the waterand i'm dancing with the current and my clothesare on the beachyou stay with the earthcuz you don't understand why i would wanna freezethe irony
we learned to dance, and i was swaying all aloneyou're stiff as stoneyou lock your heart up in a place i'll never knowthe distance grows
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 24 June 2020 08:31 (three years ago) link
Loved this album until the lockdown put me in a different headspace. Still, first time in ages an indie rock record has grabbed me like this, in much the same ways as those of my youth (ok boomer)
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 24 June 2020 08:31 (three years ago) link
Ya I'm with you baaderonix -- I was super-excited in the run-up to the album release,really looking forward to seeing her play later in March to kick off the spring concert season, and then.....
I guess my attachment to the record must have been a superficial one, because it got sloughed off as totally as a snake's shed skin. Except that's not an accurate metaphor, because the self that emerged is smaller than the one I had before.
Anyone listening to the singles series she's been releasing?
― handsome boy modelling software (bernard snowy), Wednesday, 24 June 2020 13:07 (three years ago) link
One of these songs sounds like "Lose Yourself"
― billstevejim, Sunday, 28 June 2020 20:52 (three years ago) link
Dug this out after a long while and it still hits the spot. Maybe even better suited for this weird late summer.
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Thursday, 30 July 2020 19:13 (three years ago) link
it's so good, i want to listen to it all the time
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 30 July 2020 19:22 (three years ago) link
Definitely a standout album of the year for me. I still haven't absorbed all of the lyrics yet - its all about the textures of the songs for me.
I'm already nostalgic for the first time I heard this album just before lockdown. It feels like that was a complete different age. What a weird year.
― Luna Schlosser, Thursday, 30 July 2020 22:41 (three years ago) link
Jordan I dipped into this because of a rec you made on twitter, ty
― officer sonny bonds, lytton pd (mayor jingleberries), Tuesday, 4 August 2020 20:05 (three years ago) link
:)
i checked it out under similar circumstances so i'm happy to pass it along
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 4 August 2020 20:24 (three years ago) link
Yep this very good album was a J0rdan inspo for me too
― Tim F, Tuesday, 4 August 2020 20:33 (three years ago) link
i love this album from 1997
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 21 December 2020 21:03 (three years ago) link
she plays this live version of "crawling in my skin" that has this noisy freakout outro w/ feedback swirling everywhere and drums pummeling and synths diving in and out of the mix. there's definitely a throughline from this to the album as well. this version on KEXP is a bit truncated compared to when i saw her show but the sound is great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS0gznOYZUw
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 20 April 2022 22:16 (one year ago) link
"rom com 2004" is the one that makes this all make sense to me, it feels like some of these songs are disintegrating in real time - hooks and choruses strong enough to withstand their own deconstruction, but lyrics and feelings enhanced by this sense of chaos and crumble around them
― boxedjoy, Wednesday, 20 April 2022 22:42 (one year ago) link
Is that a new drummer on the KEXP recording? It gives the whole band more drive.
― Freeze Instr., Thursday, 21 April 2022 00:58 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1kaQCMB1q8
another stunner
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Wednesday, 18 May 2022 17:54 (one year ago) link
honestly prob my favorite thing i've heard from her barring my favorite song of all time "crawling in my skin"
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Wednesday, 18 May 2022 18:03 (one year ago) link
Yet another banger
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 18 May 2022 20:27 (one year ago) link
I've just bought a ticket to see her live in autumn based on that song.
― boxedjoy, Wednesday, 18 May 2022 20:42 (one year ago) link
ooh this one's good
― ufo, Wednesday, 18 May 2022 22:45 (one year ago) link
Oh good, so it wasnt just me then! Agree that it might be her best song.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 19 May 2022 00:53 (one year ago) link
after the other two singles i feel like i have a firmer idea of what "shotgun" was doing and i'm now very excited for this album, seems on track to be her best
― ufo, Thursday, 19 May 2022 14:37 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ildebdJsr0A
i am gonna love this album
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 9 June 2022 16:39 (one year ago) link
update: i love this album
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 June 2022 19:50 (one year ago) link
feels like an alt rock record you would’ve liberated from the depths of a used bin in the '90s, but like the dust and sticker residue on it have somehow crept into the sound of the music itself
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 June 2022 20:25 (one year ago) link
production on even the most normal-sounding song here is crazy psychedelic, i fucking adore it
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 June 2022 20:27 (one year ago) link
I, too, adore the sound of this album. I’m trying to think of a point of comparison?
― Tim F, Thursday, 23 June 2022 21:28 (one year ago) link
oh wow the end of "don't ask me" !
― ufo, Friday, 24 June 2022 00:06 (one year ago) link
this absolutely delivers
― ufo, Friday, 24 June 2022 01:01 (one year ago) link
Absolutely, every song is charming
― Tim F, Friday, 24 June 2022 01:12 (one year ago) link
texturally it's kinda like a more successful version of machina/the machines of god, tracks like "this time" and "wound" if they weren't so flat
― ufo, Friday, 24 June 2022 01:21 (one year ago) link
The goth and shoegaze textures are great. It's like she's imbued them into her own distinctive songwriting, rather than merely aping the sound like so much modern shoegaze does.
Overall tone is crisp and murky in equal measure. Love it.
The lyrics on 'Still' slay me.
― The Ghost Club, Friday, 24 June 2022 11:46 (one year ago) link
I hear Garbage as well. Great album.
― Mule, Friday, 24 June 2022 11:59 (one year ago) link
Lol I was thinking Machina/Machines of God might be a reference point but did not have the emotional energy to confirm
― Tim F, Friday, 24 June 2022 21:04 (one year ago) link
“don’t ask me” is perfect
― in places all over the world, real stuff be happening (voodoo chili), Friday, 1 July 2022 14:12 (one year ago) link
Ok I'll admit that she was an artist I had "written off/pointedly ignored because of their name" but I checked out "Shotgun" anyway and my god, this has one of the most euphoric choruses I've ever heard. It's all about the dreamy pastel chord progression and melody, but the production touches are perfect too--the stuttering snare fill when she sings "shotgun", the sweet shiny OPN Juno squiggles. The rest of the album sounds pretty good so far too. Brad otm here:
feels like an alt rock record you would’ve liberated from the depths of a used bin in the '90s, but like the dust and sticker residue on it have somehow crept into the sound of the music itself― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, June 23, 2022 4:25 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, June 23, 2022 4:25 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink
― J. Sam, Friday, 1 July 2022 16:59 (one year ago) link
I feel quite a few people who have previously ignored Soccer Mommy will check the new album out due to the OPN connection and be pleasantly surprised by the quality of Allison's songwriting.
It's definitely her best record but the production is proving divisive on the SM stan Reddit. Personally I think it's a perfect balance - OPN does just enough to add gritty gloss to the songs, but never tramples on the songwriting. See 'I Feel it All the Time' - Lopatin is smart enough to know Juno synth arpeggios don't belong here. He steps back and lets the song shine.
― The Ghost Club, Saturday, 2 July 2022 20:45 (one year ago) link
the production is incredible idk what anyone could have a problem with. it's not a huge departure either, just feels like a fully realised version of the textural stuff from the last album
― ufo, Saturday, 2 July 2022 21:07 (one year ago) link
I agree. It feels like a very logical progression, and if we didn’t know that there was a name producer involved I don’t think many people would be thinking of it as a big shift (other than to note how great the record sounds).
― Tim F, Saturday, 2 July 2022 23:16 (one year ago) link
I love the 90s and I love Opn but this record didn’t do anything for me
― calstars, Saturday, 2 July 2022 23:53 (one year ago) link
It's definitely her best record
Still prefer Clean, but this one's pretty good.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Sunday, 3 July 2022 00:14 (one year ago) link
Yes this is quite excellent!!
― brimstead, Tuesday, 5 July 2022 03:32 (one year ago) link
I don't understand why Pitchfork didn't BNM this. At all. I guess because it's not jazz or experimental ambient or MOR R&B.
The old Pitchfork would have lapped this up.
― The Ghost Club, Tuesday, 5 July 2022 03:51 (one year ago) link
She kinda nailed it with "Circle the Drain," and imo "Shotgun" while a great song with a dope hook needed some similar arrangement flourishes from "Circle the Drain" to keep it from sounding so repetitive by the time the third chorus arrives. I'll probably enjoy the record as a whole when I get around to it.
― billstevejim, Tuesday, 5 July 2022 15:54 (one year ago) link
I love the '90s, never heard 0pm, and this def does nothing for me... I don't hear much in the way of "songs" (and I guess the production isn't necessarily my cup of tea, either)
― Bunheads Pilot Enthusiast (morrisp), Tuesday, 5 July 2022 16:11 (one year ago) link
Hard to reconcile the genius of opn with this mediocre bullshit
― calstars, Friday, 8 July 2022 21:57 (one year ago) link
bye bitch
― J0rdan S., Friday, 8 July 2022 22:00 (one year ago) link
^That phrase was my exact thought when I just saw Musk was terminating his Twitter bid
― Bunheads Pilot Enthusiast (morrisp), Friday, 8 July 2022 23:39 (one year ago) link
it’s an album by soccer mommy not opn ffs
― brimstead, Saturday, 9 July 2022 00:21 (one year ago) link
once again being bowled over by "night swimming" being one of the best break up songs ever written...
― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Thursday, 25 January 2024 16:49 (two months ago) link
i love the way she establishes this feral desire, situating herself among the elements, broken away from society, gesturing at feelings and environments that transcend the human experience...
I want someone who's following a dreamSomeone like meWho feels the air inside their body running freeI want the breezeWell, the moon is in the waterAnd I'm dancing with the current and my clothesAre on the beachYou stay with the earth'Cause you don't understand why I would wanna freezeThe irony
Well, the moon is in the waterAnd I'm dancing with the current and my clothesAre on the beachYou stay with the earth'Cause you don't understand why I would wanna freezeThe irony
...and then threads it back into modern interior life, unable to run wild, fumbling to articulate her feelings as her partner is distracted by technology...
We learned to dance, and I was swaying all aloneYou're stiff as stoneYou lock your heart up in a place I'll never knowThe distance growsTry to break your wallsBut all I ever end up breaking is your bonesBruises showStanding in the living roomTalking as you're staring at your phoneIt's a cold I've known
Try to break your wallsBut all I ever end up breaking is your bonesBruises showStanding in the living roomTalking as you're staring at your phoneIt's a cold I've known
...and then back to the dark beach and cold water, bringing the story full circle from the first verse, but also tying the stone metaphor together just in this stanza, in general i just love the imagery here, the idea of hoping that this exciting, spontaneous moment will re-electrify your connection w/ this person, only to come up for air and be faced w/ the truth... the idea of water being a place that you can be cleansed and reborn, except she emerges freezing and alone, no rapture to be found...
You watched me sink beneath the water like a stoneAnd then let goI came for air and found that I was all aloneI should've knownSwam back to the shorelineAnd found that all you left me was a noteI read it slowYou said that you had loved meBut you knew that you would end up on your ownA sinking stone
Swam back to the shorelineAnd found that all you left me was a noteI read it slowYou said that you had loved meBut you knew that you would end up on your ownA sinking stone
perfect song
― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Thursday, 25 January 2024 17:08 (two months ago) link
Great post, thanks - never paid that much attention to her lyrics
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Thursday, 25 January 2024 17:10 (two months ago) link
booming post j0rd
― ivy., Thursday, 25 January 2024 17:13 (two months ago) link
<3
― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Thursday, 25 January 2024 21:16 (two months ago) link
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, June 24, 2020 4:00 AM (three years ago)
still
Bleak House is incredible. Krook exploding is perfect.
― Allen (etaeoe), Thursday, 25 January 2024 22:45 (two months ago) link