Filed under: Music, Music Reviews | Tags: 2011, blink 182, burning at both ends, foo fighters, it culls you, Music, mutemath, neighborhoods, odd soul, reviews, set your goals, the envy corps, wasting light
2011 has come and gone, to state the obvious. And within this year I bought a lot of new music. For a while there it was every week that I was looking forward to something new. Nevertheless, I bought a lot of duds this year. Many a band that I anticipated left me wholly unsatisfied and some bands even lost my allegiance because their new record was such a disappointment. What brings me to write this entry is the fact that my “Album of the Year” is a shock even to me. Since 2003 the band blink-182 hasn’t released a new full-length (1 cover song, “Another Girl, Another Planet” was the last piece of new material); and in 2011 we finally saw the boys come raging back with wide media buzz, a gigantic tour, and two official singles + two unofficial ones that also have “unofficial” music videos. While at first I found the record a bit undercooked and the lack of a producer being a minor hatchet to their sound, I’ve come to love just about every piece of “Neighborhoods.” Blink’s energy is contagious and no other sound that emerged this past year came even close to being as infectious. What’s more is that their sound is honest. Lately most new music that I hear sounds contrived, like the band is clearly trying to be something. While that’s sweet and all, I’d rather just see the band be themselves and not strain over attempting to reach a certain sound. In the rest of this post I’ll highlight some other sweet runners-ups as well as some of my biggest heartaches; all while telling you why blink-182 actually created some of the best music 2011 heard.
Biggest Heartache: “Odd Soul” by Mutemath– When I first heard the eponymous track, “Odd Soul,” I was underwhelmed. It was drenched in too much reverb, sounded too distorted, and was a bit too heavy on the 70s guitar riffage. Then I heard the single, “Blood Pressure” and thought, “Holy crap. This is astounding.” The groovy rhythm section combined with the explosive guitars and raw, primal vocals was insanely titillating. Then I heard the album preview online and thought it sounded glorious, with Paul Meany really stretching his vocal range, experimenting with melodies and really creating an album that sounds beautiful and coarse all at the same time. When I finally got the chance to buy “Odd Soul” I was addicted to it. The songs were all super cool and super inventive. For about a week it was all I listened to. But then I became suddenly bored by it; annoyed almost. After getting to know the songs I realized that its kind of all the same… With Roy Mitchell-Cardenas (bassist) on guitar in lieu of Greg Hill, it appears his style is a bit too single-minded. The record sounds like a throw-back to 70s rock through and through and through. The muffled, distorted drums and guitars grew wearisome and I began craving guitar riffs that actually stood out like on previous tracks, “Goodbye,” “Electrify,” or “Spotlight.” At first “Odd Soul” was clearly no “Armistice” (their sophomore album) and I was okay with that. But then when I thought about it some more… I realized that I desired so much more diversity and creativity from the boys of Mutemath– something like “Armistice” that really pushed boundaries and got them out of their comfort zone. As stated by the band, “Odd Soul” was them writing music within their comfort zones this time around… and I’m not so sure I’m on board with that.
Biggest Loss: “Burning At Both Ends” by Set Your Goals– “Mutiny!” is a great record. It’s great because its honest and it sounds like its hailing a sound that has been all but forgotten– real pop punk. As a debut album its easy to appreciate and while listening you just have to think to yourself, “What’s their next effort going to sound like?” Enter: “This Will Be The Death of Us.” Easily one of the best pop punk records ever made; every track is unique and overflowing with awesome creativity. SYG takes dual vocals to new levels and unearths a sound only Taking Back Sunday ever really perfected. The guitar work is surprisingly great and their drummer is a monumental beast. As the band began to publicize the recording process of their third album, “Burning At Both Ends,” you can bet I was beyond excited. However, when that first single emerged I nearly vomited. SYG had/has turned in their punk rocker badges for pure pop. Just about every song from the new record is contrived, overly produced, and lacking any sort of bite. I even recall from my review of TWBTDU saying that the singer, Jordan, sounded awesomely pissed off and I craved more. No such attitude exists on the latest Set Your Goals album and I didn’t even bother to buy it. Those snippets I heard were enough; and especially that music video… Ugh.
Biggest Underachiever: “It Culls You” by The Envy Corps.– Don’t let my title fool you. I mean “underachiever” in the sense that no one bought this record, even fewer people know it exists. While I didn’t understand their sound at first, after multiple listens, one day it clicked. ICY is beautiful. More so than beautiful, it’s moody, it’s rhythmic, it’s daring, even. The Envy Corps have created something intensely smart and those not willing to sit down with a cup of tea and really ruminate on its stylings will never have a chance at appreciating what they’ve released. People claim they’re part Radiohead or even part Coldplay… but I disagree. All music can be equated to someone else… just let The Envy Corps be The Envy Corps. Because I promise you: get over trying to classify them and you’ll realize just how wonderful and original they can be.
Biggest Turnaround: “Wasting Light” by Foo Fighters– I thought this record was so bad at first. I was sick of Dave Grohl posting cliche’d rock ‘n roll idioms to his Twitter and hated how much he pushed the fact that it was created on “all analog gear.” Who cares, man? When I heard “Wasting Light” I was admittedly let down and let it just… drift away for a long while. Some tracks like “Bridge Burning,” “Rope,” and “Arlandria” initially made a big splash with me though . It was over Christmas that I decided to bring that album along with me for some car rides and found myself in love with it somehow. “Dear Rosemary” showed itself to be a hard hitting rock jam; “These Days” stopped feeling contrived and appeared anthemic; and how I ever passed up “Matter of Time” is beyond me. The last three tracks, “Miss the Misery,” “I Should Have Known,” and “Walk” still are kinda weak in my opinion, but there’s no denying the first 80% of the album.
Those are just a few stand out opinions that I have formed over the year. Obviously in each year there is a ton of music that gets released and not everything gets highlighted. Please feel free to post in the comments section which titles you think deserve recognition in 2011.
It still feels weird admitting that blink-182 had the record of the year– didn’t I outgrow that stuff? That’s what’s funny about the trio’s sound though: its certainly matured. Songs like “This Is Home” and “Love Is Dangerous” clearly show a band willing to test their musical might. And with nary a reference to being in high school or getting drunk, it seems the message they’re trying to convey has grown up. Of course, not everything is brilliant– I still don’t know what “stop living in the shadow of a helicopter” really means and “Fighting the Gravity,” a bonus track, might be one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. The boys certainly could have used an outside producer to tighten up some of Travis’ crazy fills and possibly tell Mark not to strain his voice so much on “Hearts All Gone.” But as long as I get to keep hearing inventive tracks like “Ghost on the Dancefloor” that contain deep, moving imagery and weirdly mythological tracks like “Snake Charmer” that discuss topics like sex and romance, I’ll keep voting that blink-182 continues to stay together and will assuredly believe that they can keep pumping out great music. I know that when I first heard “Up All Night” I took a proverbial shit all over blink’s new ideas. But now that I’m used to their style that has been gone for nearly a decade, I get what they’re trying to do… and I seemingly love it.
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