22nd-century Strokes was my description tbf
― imago, Friday, 16 April 2021 08:40 (three years ago) link
Anyway I've heard the new album. Strangely unconvinced it beats their previous one, Only Love, but repeat listens will reveal
― imago, Friday, 16 April 2021 08:41 (three years ago) link
at best it's a slight improvement, which makes their herculean promo effort for this one sort of funny to me
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Friday, 16 April 2021 12:00 (three years ago) link
This is definitely an earphones album, it turns out. Great stuff but yeah the biggest leap was before the last one
― imago, Friday, 16 April 2021 12:09 (three years ago) link
Like, I hadn't realised that say the chorus of An Iteration is all about the bass until just now
― imago, Friday, 16 April 2021 12:11 (three years ago) link
This is gonna be like Weyes Blood where the one that launches them into the mainstream is still amazing but the previous one is where they achieved godliness
― imago, Friday, 16 April 2021 12:13 (three years ago) link
this is good
feel like this band is extremely my thing on paper and less so in practice. maybe they're not there yet
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 16 April 2021 13:54 (three years ago) link
i only watched that live video and it turned me off - four guitarists playing indiscriminate mush on shiny new guitars (though i approve of the st. vincent signature guitar that one dude is playing), the token woman who wears skimpy clothes and who you can't hear at all and doesn't play an instrument even though there are four dudes playing guitar, how anti-styled they all look, etc. i like the faux-andrew w.k. playing andrew w.k. chintzy synth fine. the non-musical antics described in the pitchfork review sounded reasonably amusing. guessing this is just "not for me" or i am "too old" for it bc i know that a lot of the band members have cred.
― na (NA), Friday, 16 April 2021 14:13 (three years ago) link
ugh why did i post all that, i don't know anything about this band
― na (NA), Friday, 16 April 2021 14:29 (three years ago) link
I've said it in other threads but I love this band and the show i saw them play in bk right around the release of the previous album was some of the most fun I've ever had at a live show. This new one sounds a lot like Cleric meets Melt-Banana meets top 40 pop/rock. I wasn't convinced by the rollout but hearing it all as one album, I love it. "BIG SHELL" is exactly why I dig this band.
― gman59, Friday, 16 April 2021 14:35 (three years ago) link
This is the worst sounding record since Loveless and they deserve a medal.
― braised cod, Friday, 16 April 2021 14:37 (three years ago) link
i like quite a few bands that only have one mode but when i listen to an album by these guys i really enjoy it while it's on and when it's over i feel like i just listened for the hidden harmonies in my garbage disposal for 40 minutes
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 16 April 2021 15:54 (three years ago) link
i get way more actual dynamics out of like ... a converge record
there are parts of this, when there are multiple vocalists going off, that sound sort of like how I imagine a 2021 blood brothers reunion record would sound like (though sadly not as hooky)
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Friday, 16 April 2021 15:55 (three years ago) link
also while I do like them and this record it doesn't bode well that it takes this level of extramusical art-fuckery to get a metal band the ol' Pitchfork BNM these days lol
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Friday, 16 April 2021 15:57 (three years ago) link
Tbh I should have opened with either of the other two advance singles, both of which are better than All Futures
― imago, Friday, 16 April 2021 16:05 (three years ago) link
And yeah, Pitchfork were always going to be all over this lot eventually. They just wanted it. And they got it. Lol
needs more crabcore
― i bought biden some thin mints with my stimmy (PBKR), Friday, 16 April 2021 16:19 (three years ago) link
Their music does nothing for me but the Stereogum feature about the two main dudes' nutrition and weight-lifting regimens was pretty funny. Maybe the only thing Ian Cohen's ever written that I enjoyed!
― but also fuck you (unperson), Friday, 16 April 2021 16:28 (three years ago) link
"all futures" is my favorite song i think. maybe i'm doing it wrong
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 16 April 2021 17:03 (three years ago) link
it's got a sense of space they usually lack for me
blood brothers comparison otm
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 16 April 2021 17:04 (three years ago) link
It's also kind of weird to me that the weightlifting aspect is so prominent in discussions of the music because it doesn't even strike me as a good weightlifting album? A good running album maybe. I'd way sooner put on one of the last two Code Orange albums.
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Friday, 16 April 2021 17:32 (three years ago) link
I don't do much lifting so maybe I'm not the best judge tbf
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Friday, 16 April 2021 17:36 (three years ago) link
I really liked the last album but everything I've seen about this campaign completely turns me off
― bruce spr!ngisH3r3 (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 16 April 2021 17:43 (three years ago) link
I've deliberately tried to keep this thread to the music lol
― imago, Friday, 16 April 2021 17:48 (three years ago) link
Like shouts out to p4k for waving the BLM flag for half a decade but not thinking its a little suss that a band that's 87% white releases an album album that looks like the alt-R&B debut of Hydrox Frank Ocean
https://img.discogs.com/RuWnTijgsdek3w0vGIxtL5rrnqo=/fit-in/594x596/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-18314782-1618526827-3105.jpeg.jpg
― bruce spr!ngisH3r3 (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 16 April 2021 17:48 (three years ago) link
Everything about this screams "the 1975" to me where it's like 75% pretty passable happy-shiny depression rock and 25% regurgitating contemporary signifiers as if having the internet makes you Andy Warhol and millennial music critics go bananas
― bruce spr!ngisH3r3 (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 16 April 2021 17:51 (three years ago) link
"ultrapop," fuck off
― bruce spr!ngisH3r3 (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 16 April 2021 17:52 (three years ago) link
you're angry that they're using black models on their album covers now?
― imago, Friday, 16 April 2021 17:53 (three years ago) link
regardless, pretty sure their ideals are ultra-progressive and leftist
anyway, 'ultrapop' is a great title that MAY WELL have been taken from someone's RYM review of Only Love, as was pointed out recently
― imago, Friday, 16 April 2021 17:54 (three years ago) link
When asked about the term “ultrapop” on writer Dan Ozzi’s Substack podcast,When asked about the term “ultrapop” on writer Dan Ozzi’s Substack podcast,When asked about the term “ultrapop” on writer Dan Ozzi’s Substack podcast,When asked about the term “ultrapop” on writer Dan Ozzi’s Substack podcast,When asked about the term “ultrapop” on writer Dan Ozzi’s Substack podcast,When asked about the term “ultrapop” on writer Dan Ozzi’s Substack podcast,When asked about the term “ultrapop” on writer Dan Ozzi’s Substack podcast,When asked about the term “ultrapop” on writer Dan Ozzi’s Substack podcast,When asked about the term “ultrapop” on writer Dan Ozzi’s Substack podcast,When asked about the term “ultrapop” on writer Dan Ozzi’s Substack podcast,When asked about the term “ultrapop” on writer Dan Ozzi’s Substack podcast,
― bruce spr!ngisH3r3 (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 16 April 2021 17:56 (three years ago) link
who gives a shit
― imago, Friday, 16 April 2021 17:57 (three years ago) link
whatever man, I liked their last album but I'm prolly not gonna bother with this
― bruce spr!ngisH3r3 (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 16 April 2021 17:58 (three years ago) link
you should at least listen to the music. bandcamp link is above
― imago, Friday, 16 April 2021 17:58 (three years ago) link
"a life so wonderful" is an emo song and is my actual favorite here
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 16 April 2021 17:59 (three years ago) link
Is this parody.
― pomenitul, Friday, 16 April 2021 18:05 (three years ago) link
Hydrox is the original chocolate sandwich cookie. Oreo came later.
― peace, man, Friday, 16 April 2021 18:12 (three years ago) link
Whoa
― bruce spr!ngisH3r3 (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 16 April 2021 18:18 (three years ago) link
Is the criticism that they're overcompensating for their shortcomings via extramusical online-leftist catnip as marketing tactic or something?
― Evan, Friday, 16 April 2021 18:41 (three years ago) link
terrible
― John Cooper of Christian rock band Skillet (map), Friday, 16 April 2021 18:58 (three years ago) link
that dude has nice thighs though
anyone who likes this band should get some fuckin taste and listen to elder instead
― John Cooper of Christian rock band Skillet (map), Friday, 16 April 2021 19:01 (three years ago) link
<3 map
― braised cod, Friday, 16 April 2021 19:05 (three years ago) link
I listen to both
― imago, Friday, 16 April 2021 19:05 (three years ago) link
album's solid but it's no twenty one pilots trench j/k
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 16 April 2021 19:06 (three years ago) link
well i'm not kidding but i'm kidding
anyone who likes this band should get some fuckin taste
Dude, there are people on this board riding for Tramp Stamps with a straight face. Abandon all hope ye who enter here.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Friday, 16 April 2021 19:34 (three years ago) link
album is really solid. I like everything about them. the music delivers imo. the live show is a blast. the non music creative side of things is a funny mindfuck and way more interesting than the norm.
also, I like Elder.
― gman59, Friday, 16 April 2021 19:36 (three years ago) link
yup ^^
(i do think Only Love is a bit better than this new one)
― alpine static, Friday, 16 April 2021 19:39 (three years ago) link
tramp stamps are good
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 16 April 2021 19:54 (three years ago) link
not sure why we keep bringing up music that doesn't resemble the armed but it's fun
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 16 April 2021 19:57 (three years ago) link
ironically they also remind me of parts and labor
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Friday, 16 April 2021 20:19 (three years ago) link
Several listens later: straight fire beautiful album
― imago, Saturday, 17 April 2021 19:18 (three years ago) link
deffo prefer only love, but having a good time with this
― nxd, Sunday, 18 April 2021 17:58 (three years ago) link
I'd say early off at least as good as the last one. Which was the first one I heard, and I was unaware of all the surrounding narrative til this thread. I read that Stereogum link, read whatever two articles were linked off that, still not really understanding or caring. Kurt Ballou's involved? Cool, cool. Otherwise whatever, I played this loud when I was getting up this morning and may do again tomorrow morning, it seemed good for that. There wasn't any pushups or such involved, I just made coffee and showered and fed the cat, so maybe I was doing it wrong
― Jonathan Hellion Mumble, Sunday, 18 April 2021 20:10 (three years ago) link
listened to the song linked at the top at the thread. will not be listening to anything else by choice.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Sunday, 18 April 2021 20:20 (three years ago) link
I still can't understand how anyone thought the headphones-plugged-halfway sound was a good idea. I also don't like the stupid prog rock guitars, so maybe this band is just not for me. Maybe I'm just angry that actually good metalcore/hardcore doesn't get the attention they deserve and I've probably missed out on a lot of it because mostly this kind of gimmicky crap gets attention and exposure. Everyone please go listen to the Portrayal of Guilt and Be All End All records that were released this year, they are actually good and you don't have to wonder if your speakers are broken.
― braised cod, Monday, 19 April 2021 20:45 (two years ago) link
I'd like to think that people will read the above post and be directly inspired to listen to The Armed by it
― imago, Monday, 19 April 2021 21:07 (two years ago) link
lol, you're probably right.
― braised cod, Monday, 19 April 2021 21:40 (two years ago) link
and their intense...movies?
https://ultrapop.live/tickets
Will watch and report back
― imago, Monday, 18 October 2021 19:32 (two years ago) link
bangers!
between this and the new L'Rain single, Intensified Strokes is a flavour that's in. the 20-year recurrence thing eh lol
― imago, Friday, 25 August 2023 08:46 (seven months ago) link
I saw this band live about a year ago and it was impossible to comprehend what was going on
― Stomp Jomperson (dog latin), Friday, 25 August 2023 08:58 (seven months ago) link
i believe that is more or less the idea
not much that's baffling on this new album, wall to wall pop splendour, aside from a really out of place penultimate track that combines breathy folk with smooth jazz and it doesn't work at all. BUT THE REST IS GOOD. also that bad track i mentioned is pure ILMbait so you'll all probably love it lol
― imago, Friday, 25 August 2023 09:08 (seven months ago) link
"in heaven" isn't even very good at that thing though
i listened to a few other tracks and the ones that kinda sound like muddy blown-out strokes songs are an improvement over anything i've heard before from them. but hardcore was just not my thing to begin with
― ufo, Friday, 25 August 2023 09:20 (seven months ago) link
well they've kept their faithful and added a few others hopefully. good job selling out!!!!!!
― imago, Friday, 25 August 2023 09:47 (seven months ago) link