Review Summary: don’t drink and drive
This album reminds me of the morning, a hazy one at that, where you’re replaying the distinct memories from the previous night within your head. Opener ‘american home’ bluntly reminds you exactly how much you had to drink (“
Passing out, I tried so hard to be good this time”) while still retaining the fervent energy of the party before. The blaring guitars and wailing, desperate vocals mirror the former crowd’s persona quite accurately, and the song flips into overdrive just as your mind did too. Almost as if you’ve regained all of that dopamine lost to the alcohol and drugs and music and dancing, you cling onto that feeling for as long as you can before it fades away. Unfortunately, that’s all you really end up connecting with as your tired brain begins to realize exactly how depraved and broken it is. The rest of the songs feel too similar to the dozens of other nights you’ve had like this and despite how hard you try to concentrate, the music never seems to click. While there are exceptions, like the elegant addition of a piano within the outro in ‘mountain climbers’ or the poignant, somber lyrics of ‘the sins (oh right)’, the rest feels worn and tired. You’ve dealt with the heartbreak before, so when lead singer Adam semi-bitterly recalls past relationships instead of desperately fighting his own demons (like on his previous efforts), it doesn’t have the same personal magnitude. Really, it’s just that you’ve heard this all before, or something like it, and you’re just too sick of the alikeness to have
talking shit about yr friends stand out this time. I guess I’m just too tired.
