Review Summary: Hello Clancy
Twenty One Pilots have had a pretty tumultuous ride (ha) throughout their career. Starting from promising young duo out of Columbus Ohio, to the newest fad band with annoying fans, to unexpected critical darlings, to just another traveler on the post covid funk/pop trend that consumed pop music in the early 2020s. It would be easy to question where the group goes after the fairly decent fall from glory after the
Scaled & Icy underperformance. You then arrive on the first words of opening track “Overcompensate.”
“Welcome Back to Trench”
In our nostalgia driven society, it is easy to see this as just another reach for former glory. How could it not be?
Trench, released in 2018, is wholly viewed as the band’s masterwork. So just hit the “f*** it, go back” button, right?
But no, the opening lyric is not a shoddy sequel bait, rather a statement of intent. Make no mistake,
Clancy is the long awaited follow up to the band’s best work after a brief side quest into the land of bright colors and disco beats. This follow up may be the most consistently great release of their career.
The statement of intent of returning to Trench, allows for the group to return to the production style that made the predecessor the fan favorite it became. The opener “Overcompensate” provides a great example of this. The first track features an exhilarating drum introduction courtesy of Joshua Dun that almost sounds like the group were trying to channel their inner “The Prodigy”. Which then transitions into the similar but refreshing crisp, heavy bass production along with Tyler Joseph’s bars, reintroducing the band to the world. Other tracks that call back in a similar regard are “Routines in the Night” with the track's siren mimicking opening, and the following ear-worm chorus. Also “Backslide” which feels like a spiritual follow up to “Morph” off the predecessor with more abrasive production which sounds mostly sensational.
I would say the biggest success of
Clancy is the introduction of guitar laced alternative rock stylings into the returning formula. This allows for a lot of the tracks to feel more refined and complete. My personal favorite track in this style is the second single “Next Semester”. The track tells the story of the lead vocalist, Tyler Joseph’s, suicide attempt. The song is deeply personal to this writer for this reason. The chorus is the epitome of being completely cathartic in the most surreal way. Other tracks which boast this richer production style are “Oldies Station” with inspirational lyrics of perseverance. And “Navigating” which might be the closest the group ever comes to a “pop punk” style.
The record in my opinion has two primary detractors. One and most glaring is the Twenty One Pilots quirk of overall obnoxiousness, not seen much since their record
Blurryface. Such as the way “navigating” is said in the track of the same name. It reminds me of Maroon 5 singing “following” on their 2014 single “Maps”. This is not a good thing to remind us of. Or the gang chants behind Joseph’s already higher pitched vocals on “Backslide”. These just seem unnecessary. Secondly, is the way the record was presented. The record was presented as this completion of the famed “lore”, but it does not feel many of the songs contribute to this story. The ones that do, such as “Snap Back” and “Paladin Strait”, feel like exposition.
Clancy in summation feels like a mission statement for the future of the duo. As the group gets older and energetic live shows have to be toned down due to the curse of age, records like this will keep the rabid fandom alive and bring in new fans of good pop music. Finally, a sequel done right.
