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
lol, yes
― Tim F, Monday, 21 December 2020 21:41 (three years ago) link
crawwwwllllliiiiiing in myyyyyyyy skiiiincrawwwwllllliiiiiing in myyyyyyyy skiiiin
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 28 January 2021 17:32 (three years ago) link
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, January 28, 2021 10:32 AM (seven months ago) bookmarkflaglink
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Tuesday, 21 September 2021 23:43 (two years ago) link
were you at the show tonight brad? i was thinking of you when they played that song & added the whole like synth led jammy outro that blew my socks off
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 22 September 2021 06:41 (two years ago) link
i was not there but the person i'm dating was!! which inspired me to listen to the album last night. i am jealous of both you and her for getting to experience that synth outro
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Wednesday, 22 September 2021 17:16 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EO18qI8r3I
kkb remix of "rom com 2004" is cool
― ufo, Thursday, 30 September 2021 02:30 (two years ago) link
New album produced by.. Oneohtrix Point Never!?!
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Thursday, 24 March 2022 11:31 (two years ago) link
not a combo that really makes any real sense and i would not have really guessed based on the single
― ufo, Thursday, 24 March 2022 11:41 (two years ago) link
Makes as much sense as opn working with The Weeknd I guess. Dude trying to expand his palette / resume I guess
― calstars, Thursday, 24 March 2022 11:49 (two years ago) link
did anyone listen to the single from last year
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Thursday, 24 March 2022 11:51 (two years ago) link
obv shotgun is more normal than rom com but the choice doesn’t feel out of nowhere
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Thursday, 24 March 2022 11:55 (two years ago) link
i liked that one a lot more than this one
― ufo, Thursday, 24 March 2022 12:47 (two years ago) link
it's an interesting choice for a lead single considering how immediately hooky "circle the drain" was, this feels more jagged and smeared by comparison. but i do like it, you can def hear lopatin's synth work in the mix in a cool way
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 24 March 2022 18:40 (two years ago) link
Really like Shotgun, so I went back and tried Color Theory again and...it's still mostly a bore. Clean was such a great album, though, and I dig the sonics and structure of Shotgun, so I'm cautiously looking forward to the new LP.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Friday, 25 March 2022 03:54 (two years ago) link
"Shotgun" is incredible and to me a lot more immediate than anything she's ever done before
― boxedjoy, Sunday, 27 March 2022 12:27 (two years ago) link
Weird. For me,it’s been a real grower. Was disappointed when I first heard it. Thought it sounded pretty generic. But that twangy beat made me come back and I now pretty much love it. Don’t hear any trace of OPN though
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Sunday, 27 March 2022 13:24 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfNHwboQ0yU
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Wednesday, 20 April 2022 14:32 (one year ago) link
very portishead s/t to my ears. lives way more up to "soccer mommy produced by opn" than "shotgun." i love it :)
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Wednesday, 20 April 2022 14:40 (one year ago) link
otm with the Portishead comparison. I didn't much like Color Theory outside of "Circle the Drain" which remains brilliant. Definitely eager to hear more of this.
― feed me with your chips (zchyrs), Wednesday, 20 April 2022 15:29 (one year ago) link
This album is going to be the best album
― boxedjoy, Wednesday, 20 April 2022 16:48 (one year ago) link
not entirely sure what to make of this, obvious mezzanine/third vibes. i do think the drumming is pretty sick.
― in places all over the world, real stuff be happening (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 20 April 2022 18:03 (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