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 (four 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 (four months ago) link
Great post, thanks - never paid that much attention to her lyrics
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Thursday, 25 January 2024 17:10 (four months ago) link
booming post j0rd
― ivy., Thursday, 25 January 2024 17:13 (four months ago) link
<3
― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Thursday, 25 January 2024 21:16 (four months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oji9RtJkNu4
the gentle fog of noise enveloping her in this performance ._.
― 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 (four months ago) link
saw her last night opening this little tour of shows w/ no band
firstly, she is incredible in this format, i've enjoyed the previous shows i've seen w/ the band but her on solo electric guitar playing up the shoegazey reverby noisy aspect of her sound is another level for me
she played 5 new songs -- evergreen, m, lost, salt and wound, driver. she put a clip of "lost" on IG yesterday, it sounds like she's going back towards the sound of her early records.
― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Saturday, 1 June 2024 17:17 (six days ago) link
whoops did not mean to press enter there ... continuing on
https://www.instagram.com/p/C7pUt-3SE27/?hl=en
she also posted when announcing this tour that w/ her new music she wanted to "focus on the songwriting and keep the production more organic." further, at the show last night she didn't play anything off 'sometimes, forever' nor did she once mention it or even mention that she wasn't mentioning it. she played mostly songs from the debut and before, w/ some color theory songs (sounding as vital as ever i swear to god) peppered in there too
i have to say "lost" kinda blew me away, i'm really excited for the new music. "salt and wound" also stood out but they were all good. i wouldn't normally wanna take too much away from solo live renditions of unreleased recorded songs but she seems to be signaling pretty heavily that it's a back to her sweet spot kinda album
― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Saturday, 1 June 2024 17:23 (six days ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dns6C3MTauI
interesting direction for her. you can really hear the sheryl crow, FM radio kinda influence as this gets going. kinda love it
― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Thursday, 6 June 2024 16:16 (yesterday) link
reminds me of the ballads from jagged little pill and honestly not much music reminds me of those!!!
production is weirdly blown out though that might be youtube compression
― ivy., Thursday, 6 June 2024 23:11 (yesterday) link
oh yeah that's youtube compression
― ivy., Thursday, 6 June 2024 23:15 (yesterday) link
Thanks for the write up! Tbh, I don't care much for the first album (or at least I would place it far below the 2nd and 3rd) and going back to basics isn't really what I wanted from her. Her choice to make obv but I'm wondering what triggered it.
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Friday, 7 June 2024 08:50 (eight hours ago) link
it's fine but i miss the sonic ambition of the last album
― ufo, Friday, 7 June 2024 08:53 (eight hours ago) link
i kinda wish she'd do something a little more uptempo, though mostly just because when i saw her live last year i wished her songs had a bit more energy overall, it was kinda underwhelming
― ufo, Friday, 7 June 2024 09:04 (eight hours ago) link
I was there for the same solo show Jordan was at in Queens and also thought it was a strong performance that left me excited for a new album. It did feel odd that she didn't play a single thing off Sometimes, Forever, but I was happy to hear stuff from Collection. She seemed like she was in a chill, funny mood which was charming, given that her music can feel pretty stark.
I think "Lost" is really lovely and seems to be less of a "lead single" type of song--maybe more of something to just set the tone for the LP or even a one-off. I don't know much of her biography, but I remember the Pitchfork feature from a couple years ago said her mother had been dealing with a terminal illness for years and it seems like this song is dealing with all the emotions wrapped up in that, or perhaps in a loved one's death. Having dealt with that myself, the song definitely landed with me and the strings were a welcome touch, even if I'm not necessarily craving a whole album of songs that sound like this.
― mr. milligan, Friday, 7 June 2024 13:05 (four hours ago) link