Smashing Pumpkins: Fresh Fruit or Rotten Veg?

anyway looking forward to listening to atum the whole way through ha ha ha

I like this week's Pitchfork review - it did a good job of balancing the obligatory jabs @ Billy (one line made me laugh out loud) with what seemed like serious attention to the music.

it kinda sounds like modern day pumpkins cosplaying as jellyfish (and not doing a very good job of it)

this still sounds like an improvement from a lot of post-reunion pumpkins though lol

I recently started listening to Bandsplain and the Pumpkins episode is really good. Acknowledges all the great stuff and is more patient with some of the later material than I am. It works to understand Billy and not just make fun of him, although there’s some of that too. I had no idea what a bummer his home life was as a kid.

I have no interest in anything new that he does but I keep up for old times sake.

I recently started listening to Bandsplain and the Pumpkins episode is really good. Acknowledges all the great stuff and is more patient with some of the later material than I am. It works to understand Billy and not just make fun of him, although there’s some of that too. I had no idea what a bummer his home life was as a kid.

I have no interest in anything new that he does but I keep up for old times sake.

*sounds like it would be, i haven't bothered to track down a copy of it and probably won't

i'm listening to atum the whole way through right now and it is so much better than that psychedelic record

act one much better than i remembered. the lyrics and production are ridiculous and i admit i have more tolerance for synth-pop billy than most but a bunch of genuinely cool melodies are anchoring this thing

somehow missed the backing meows in "moss" the first time i heard it lol

"every morning" is totally like billy telling himself he's gonna work himself back into that "set the ray to jerry" space and i think it's pretty successful

oh i had totally forgotten that it then turns into a celestial new order song

best pumpkins song since machina, maybe even adore

i wouldn't take it over the better tracks on machina but it's much better than most post-machina tracks yeah

just a little frustrating because if new order had written it there'd be at least one more synth part or something, it's just a little bit empty?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsN5bH-gRjI

act three rules lol

all right i've already finished my reduction

1. atum
2. that which animates the spirit
3. the good in goodbye
4. hooligan
5. the canary trainer
6. cenotaph
7. steps in time
8. in lieu of failure
9. harmageddon
10. pacer
11. the culling
12. every morning
13. avalanche

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/28sknca2WekASmbgJdTg1y?si=d84f356672314f07

^^^ this album rules, there are arguments for me cutting more bc it's 56 minutes long but most of the classic pumpkins albums sail past 50 so whatever, wanted to give this a proper arc and make the sequence feel intentional and atmospheric (the full album sequence is... pretty arbitrary)

genuinely surprised at how much i like the whole thing tho

I listened to the new Smashing Pumpkins record. It's like Corgan decided to make all four Kiss solo records and all of them sound like the one made by Peter Criss.

— Brian O'Neill (@NYC__Native) May 7, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzwOwzGtiZw

Ladies and gentlemen, this just happened. Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan singing about Bozo sidekick Wizzo the Wizard alongside a Wizzo lookalike pic.twitter.com/a0n9ukYdqO

— Mark Guess (@markguess) January 1, 2024

the core, the heart music

https://madamezuzus.com/products/siamese-dream-30th-anniversary-cassette-tape-and-candle-box-set

lmao

https://x.com/SmashingPumpkin/status/1743340804368646440?s=20

whoops

pic.twitter.com/9cRmUWMeUj

— The Smashing Pumpkins (@SmashingPumpkin) January 5, 2024

"With notes of subterranean rehearsal spaces..."

Ummm

Someone joked that Stephen Malkmus should audition.

Why is it big music news that the 2024 Smashing Pumpkins are looking for a new third guitar player(?)

because they're making it an open audition along with a janky graphic that was thrown together in 2 minutes on Microsoft Paint? I thought the humor in this situation was readily apparent but you never know with ILX

It’s being reported everywhere (example)

I mean I guess it’s somewhat unusual for a band that still fills large venues (even if they’re decades past their prime) to hold an open audition, but I’m surprised even SP fans would care much about this.

It’s a Smashing Pumpkins thread tbf

Yeah I didn’t mean this thread, but never mind me. (Like former guitarist Jeff Schroeder, I will be watching and listening!)

I have tickets to see them in July, in Gliwice, Poland of all places. Twenty-eight years after my last SP show…

Maybe learn the chords to a few of the songs?

The fuck is Corgan wearing in that photo?

This is one helluva clip…

Jesus Christ that rocks

Update: they chose their new guitarist