Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties
Bittersweet


4.5
superb

Review

by leviegalapon USER (7 Reviews)
May 16th, 2016 | 21 replies


Release Date: 2016 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Goodbye, Carolina I felt cold and I felt weak

Bittersweet is a natural extension of what was found on We Don’t Have Each Other. The songs on Bittersweet are reminiscent to the upbeat full band songs on We Don’t Have Each Other. If you loved Our Apartment, St. Joe Keeps Us Safe, and You Ain’t No Saint then you will love Bittersweet. It is also worth mentioning how Bittersweet continues the storyline of We Don’t Have Each Other. Additionally, Bittersweet ends at a point that could be followed up with another full-length effort.

Soupy’s composing is brimming with ideas on Bittersweet. This could be compared to the latest The Wonder Years effort, There’s No Closer To Heaven where certain Aaron West aspects could be found. Specific examples could be found on songs, such as Cigarettes And Saints, Palm Reader, and No Closer To Heaven. In terms of songwriting, it was mentioned earlier that Bittersweet acts as a sequel and bridge to the next album. Additionally, Soupy brilliantly expands and elaborates and certain aspects on We Don’t Have Each Other. For example, what was the car that Aaron West borrowed from his mom back from St. Joe Keeps Us Safe? We now know that it was a ’67 Cherry Red Mustang. Besides storytelling aspects the melodies throughout Bittersweet are consistently strong. Its easy to find yourself singing along to these songs, particularly the chorus on Green Like The G Train, Green Like Sea Foam. In terms of experimentation it could also be found in the song structure of each song 67’ Cherry Red utilized verse-chorus-verse-chorus song structure. Green Like The G Train, Green Like Sea Foam has a similar song structure with the addition of a coda like outro. The final song Goodbye, Carolina Blues actually just utilizes verses. It should also be noted that Soupy utilizes dynamics to the fullest extent on Bittersweet. This technique gives an impression that the songs have bigger song structures than they really do, it’s brilliant.

Bittersweet remains as easily relatable as We Don’t Have Each Other. Bittersweet brings to mind long drives through unfamiliar places. Long drives where you don’t have particularly anywhere to go nor find. However, throughout the journey you start to piece together the broken parts inside you thought you lost long ago. There is no closure to be found on Bittersweet. There is only the satisfaction of knowing you did your best and that there’s more to do.



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user ratings (120)
3.9
excellent


Comments:Add a Comment 
leviegalapon
May 16th 2016


82 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Just in case anyone is wondering, all of the songs on Bittersweet are officially streaming on YouTube ahead of its release date.

oodlesofnoodles
May 16th 2016


66 Comments


Didn't know this was out, I love how much music this guy pumps out.

Word of advice for your review though, it's a little too short (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), and literally doesn't describe the music at all. I get that it's an extension of We Don't Have Each Other, but to people that don't know the artist, the music is still a mystery after reading this review. If you add some descriptions in the intro that should fix this right up.

leviegalapon
May 17th 2016


82 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

@oodlesofnoodles: Thanks for the feedback bro, to be honest I actually didn't even think about trying to re-describe Aaron West, I kind of just wrote this under the proposition that everyone who is interested in Bittersweet already listened to We Don't Have Each Other. In terms of length, this EP was only three songs long and I didn't want to make the review too long, but I see what you mean though.



Thanks for the feedback bro!

zaruyache
May 17th 2016


27417 Comments


This is getting surprisingly little feedback on here. Need to listen to this eventually.

Feather
May 19th 2016


10153 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Green like the G train may be my new favorite Aaron West song. This is a great ep for anyone who loved the album.

btw, awesome review, I think the length is perfect considering its only 3 songs that are just an extension of the last album.

Feather
May 19th 2016


10153 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Considering how much exposure the debut lp had on this site, its a little surprising that this ep didn't even make a tiny splash

Atari
Staff Reviewer
May 19th 2016


27973 Comments


I think it's prolly because the band already released the majority of this EP a while ago.

It's pretty good, but feels like yesterday's news already. he should have made us wait until the album dropped to release all the tracks. sputnik is also just weird about EP's in general, so there's that

DinosaurJones
May 19th 2016


10402 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I do think it's weird how they released all 3 tracks before the EP came out. Definitely want to check it out, I've only heard Green like the G Train.



I loved We Don't Have Each Other, so I'm sure I'll dig this.

LotusFlower
May 19th 2016


12000 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

The fact it took so long to drop didn't help either. Is there really a reason to announce a 3 track EP over two months in advanced?

Feather
May 19th 2016


10153 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

All valid points. Definitely should have just dropped all three tracks out of nowhere. One at a time didn't make any sense with only 3 tracks. I think this is a nice bridge though to lead into a 2nd lp and hold me over. I really like this project.

Rowan5215
Staff Reviewer
May 23rd 2016


47640 Comments

Album Rating: 4.3

end of Goodbye, Carolina is brutal

Feather
May 24th 2016


10153 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

These songs are just as good, if not better than everything off the initial release

LotusFlower
May 30th 2016


12000 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

its actually really confusing how under the radar this EP is considering the modest hype over the debut album, it has even less votes on RYM and the spotify/youtube view counts are weak.

SonofSnow
October 7th 2016


1818 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Had no idea this was a thing. The hooks and bridges on this are strong.

Feather
October 7th 2016


10153 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I was shocked this got no attention, this is actually one of my favorite releases this year, all 3 songs are awesome and surprisingly even better than most of the songs on their awesome debut.

theNateman
February 13th 2017


3809 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

So this rips my heart out in the best way

Project
August 2nd 2017


5831 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Yeah the story here is a bit much but the songs themselves are solid

DinosaurJones
August 2nd 2017


10402 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Yeah, the story/concept is a bit heavyhanded, but it's handled very sincerely and the music is good, so I dig it.

stasar
June 6th 2019


166 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

67', Cherry Red is perhaps the best Aaron West song.

butt.
June 6th 2019


10968 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

definitely a top 5



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