[rohcti]

The verse and bridge are definitely the best parts. I have some dislikes with the album but it is a fun listen. Every song has something I like in it and there are a few songs from the era that I consider classics and are A+ or S rank

[roopn]

pleased to see nobody's brought it up this time around, but I feel natural selection always got unfairly maligned. Consistently a favourite of mine on PW. Catchy, fun to sing, goes hard as fuck

[tobinge]

i had no idea they played a painting with song on colbert, holey moley.

this album's material really really came to life for me once they brought jeremy along and got comfy playing it live. comparing early pw shows to ones in 2017 (especially seen between the Ritz bootleg and the College Street recordings on their bandcamp), they went insane when it came to improving/partying with these songs. avey getting run over by a lawnmower at the end of Water Curses remains a favorite live moment.

Floridada live was goofy but hearing the background vocals in the first verse in some of the recordings makes me wish they were louder in the album mix. Recycling and Peacemaker are two of the best panda songs pre-buoys

[jusswerjk]

rampface wrote:

hedgecore wrote:

I loved Painting With from the get go and was sort of confused why people didn't like it. I'm guessing because it lacked ambient flow-y sections / the songs were shorter. The shit rips

I'm with you. I thought this was the record that would get the MPP fans back on board

Same. Definitely one of my favs and for sure their most visceral. Kind of feel likes rock or punk music to me.

I think maybe it didn't have that feeling of "epicness" and some people thought the sound palette wasn't very diverse or some of the ideas, like hocketing, were a bit repetitive. Their loss.

[diatomatix]

floridada being goofy live is exactly what made me love it. it's kind of a goofy song to begin with, but live they took it to a level where it almost becomes campy, i think. the way dave slows down the vocals in the chorus and noah's extreme vocal variations during the bridge about the bridge both feel so over the top yet so self aware, and so essentially so. to me the song almost doesn't work without completely embracing that playful, exaggerated sensibility they do live.

i love pw era.

[speen]

PW live had such *power* by the end of that tour. crazy, unhinged, shot out of a cannon. jeremy was a big help in that, his drumming is monstrous. i revisit the bootlegs they posted on bandcamp all the time, i have really fond memories of that whole era - except for actually listening to the album when it came out lol

[witek]

i think he sings slower on the chorus of Floridada cause he plays that synth that is also kind of slower, so it get easier to sing and play at the same time idk?

[captainlunatic]

dio wrote:

So much synth on Time Skiffs too but I don't always know what Deak is playing... a Roland? something controlling Moog?

I think it's a Nord Electro 3 or something like it

[dio]

well whatever that preset/sound is, it freakin ROCKS (the climax synth)

[rohcti]

tobinge wrote:

i had no idea they played a painting with song on colbert, holey moley.

this album's material really really came to life for me once they brought jeremy along and got comfy playing it live. comparing early pw shows to ones in 2017 (especially seen between the Ritz bootleg and the College Street recordings on their bandcamp), they went insane when it came to improving/partying with these songs. avey getting run over by a lawnmower at the end of Water Curses remains a favorite live moment.

Yeah I agree, the difference in quality between the early boots and the later ones is stark. My fav is that Sweet Road rendition they did for the later shows right into Technobees

['Worms']

i initially really did not enjoy the live stuff from this era despite loving the album but i've been spinning it more lately (especially those bandcamp releases) and it's killer, some amazing jams in there

daily routine into summing the wretch

[speen]

'Worms' wrote:

daily routine into summing the wretch

oh yea this is the best one. highlight of all of the PW era boots to me. That performance of daily routine is crazy powerful, and the transition into summing the wretch is immaculate.

Im really psyched about the current live era, but i do miss the excitement and buzzing energy of the PW shows

[coral lord]

that sweet road rework is def one of my favorites they've ever done

[foxtrot]

hot take:

'Painting With' is AC's 'Beach Boys Love You'.


important P.S. I bloody love Beach Boys Love You

[bullseye]

speen wrote:

'Worms' wrote:

daily routine into summing the wretch

oh yea this is the best one. highlight of all of the PW era boots to me. That performance of daily routine is crazy powerful, and the transition into summing the wretch is immaculate.

The whole stretch from recycling to alvin row on the ritz live album is glorious!

[roopn]

With a tweaked mix and a different bass sound, Vertical could be a Chris Brown - Forever style 2010s anthem

[LeadHat]

coral lord wrote:

that sweet road rework is def one of my favorites they've ever done

right?? can't help but smile when you hear it!! love during the build-up panda yelping and avey shouting, so much fun! really love how much breathing room they gave all the pw era reworks

[rohcti]

Gnip Gnop is the greatest PW song, it's basically straight up AC's version of a kid's song and a clever meta-commentary on hocketing lol

[trillstone]

The Water Curses rework on this tour was maybe my favorite rework in their history except maybe MPP era Chocolate Girl.

[Fovrodi]

SWEET ROAD

[hunkswithguns]

Sweet Road FTW

[captainlunatic]

lying in the grass is the 2nd best song on the album after floridada imo

that dissonant flute melody during the choruses is amazing

[Cooper]

captainlunatic wrote:

lying in the grass is the 2nd best song on the album after floridada imo

that dissonant flute melody during the choruses is amazing

Yeah that flute has always really blown me away, a wild, tweaked, oblique touch on an otherwise relatively straightforward album

[rampface]

My daughter was watching Finding Nemo a lot when Painting With came out so Lying in the Grass sounds just like that movie to me. The entire album has a Pixar quality imo

[zak]

let's hear some On Delay love

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii hear it doubly clearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

it's animal collective's "two of us" (still have Get Back stuck in my consciousness)

[Cooper]

On Delay is a perfect pocket symphony, but it obviously should have been 7 minutes long

[Hellomark]

Cooper wrote:

On Delay is a perfect pocket symphony, but it obviously should have been 7 minutes long

I agree with this, almost kind of frustrating how they insist on rushing through all these beautiful moments. I revisited Painting With recently and On Delay stood out as probably my favorite of the bunch, maybe even better than Burglars or Recycling which were the only ones I think I would have put above it in the past.

[trillstone]

Re-listening right now and the opening beat to Hocus Pocus sounds 100% like archaeologists chipping away at rocks. Thematically fits the album very well.

[wilandhugs]

trillstone wrote:

Re-listening right now and the opening beat to Hocus Pocus sounds 100% like archaeologists chipping away at rocks. Thematically fits the album very well.

Totally agree, that song is absolutely marble to me. Definitely feels like walking through a museum and noticing all the different mediums and styles to me.

[Tikwid]

wilandhugs wrote:

trillstone wrote:

Re-listening right now and the opening beat to Hocus Pocus sounds 100% like archaeologists chipping away at rocks. Thematically fits the album very well.

Totally agree, that song is absolutely marble to me. Definitely feels like walking through a museum and noticing all the different mediums and styles to me.

I've been thinking of making a thread for "scenes and locations AC albums conjure up" (my one for Strawberry Jam is pretty unique) and this pretty much sums up the vibe I get from Painting With. But also The Painters is a small, newly opened annex to the museum, built with sustainable materials and a lot warmer and earthier while still having the same general look as the original building. And Jimmy Mack is totally the sound of a band or DJ performing at the annex's launch party as it spills over into the night

[hedgecore]

I think Painting With is my most listened to AC album since it came out. The way the pitch drops on his voice and the synth during the bridge in Hocus Pocus is the coolest thing

[hunkswithguns]

Hellomark wrote:

Cooper wrote:

On Delay is a perfect pocket symphony, but it obviously should have been 7 minutes long

I agree with this, almost kind of frustrating how they insist on rushing through all these beautiful moments. I revisited Painting With recently and On Delay stood out as probably my favorite of the bunch, maybe even better than Burglars or Recycling which were the only ones I think I would have put above it in the past.

I too prefer the drawn-out intro jams to a lot of the PW tracks. I think Natural Selection and Lying in the Grass could've benefited from extended intros as well but I love the short, pop song structure of the album.

On a similar note, Wide Eyed is always the first song I think of in terms of rushing/condensing for an LP. Also, the album intro to Car Keys is a genius move in diving in head first into a song. I really dig the live build up but the LP version blasts off with such giddy energy.

And hey, we're lucky we have so many varied live versions to fall back on if we get tired of the LP!

[foxtrot]

hedgecore wrote:

I think Painting With is my most listened to AC album since it came out. The way the pitch drops on his voice and the synth during the bridge in Hocus Pocus is the coolest thing

fucking love this moment. not talked about enough!

[rampface]

so many WAAAAaaaaaa......aaaAAAAUUUUHHHAAAAAAYYYSS

[Cooper]

wilandhugs wrote:

trillstone wrote:

Re-listening right now and the opening beat to Hocus Pocus sounds 100% like archaeologists chipping away at rocks. Thematically fits the album very well.

Totally agree, that song is absolutely marble to me. Definitely feels like walking through a museum and noticing all the different mediums and styles to me.

It’s the most “museum of natural history” song AC has made. I always associated AC with natural science but PW really has the dry, playful energy of an educational video playing on loop on a faded monitor in a museum. Why am I so in love with that kind of thing- even though I never once had the urge to be a natural scientist

[yoko bono]

I've been relistening to this album lately. It's a lot better than I originally thought. I kind of immediately dismissed it. It sounds great with headphones and the melodies are starting to creep into my brain

[blindmowing]

i was one of the bigger fans of PW when it dropped, and i still really like it. this is the most synergistic Avey and Panda had been since Sung Tongs. just total mindmeld, cream soda and root beer slurpee

first 5 songs are perfect. the mid-section needed stronger, longer songs -- a 7 minute On Delay could've done the trick. i'd cut Bagels and Natural Selection. rest of the album would've felt stronger with a few of those preceding tracks cut. as it stands, it's a little bit too much of the same thing by the time Summing the Wretch ends.

really solid last two songs. taken as a whole, one of those goofy-smile inducing albums that puts me in a good mood. i get the Ramones thing but would've loved to just get a bit of a vibe-y longer track that AC is so good at making

8/10

[lhtd]

The thing that I like about the term 'Art Pop' is that I get to excuse any discomfort and nausea I may experience when listening to it, which then transforms those feelings as a pleasure of meaning and purposefulness. Painting With is a proper example of that for me.

[r_o_s_s]

I’ve been listening a lot recently too! In agreement with most people that the album suffers a bit in the middle. I think overall it would be a stronger record if they really went the Ramones route and had the length somewhere around 30 minutes. Cut Lying in The Grass, Spilling Guts, Natural Selection, Summing The Wretch. Maybe add in Hounds of Bairro.

Really enjoy Golden Gal but always feel a bit icky about the lyrical content. Anyone else feel this way??

[rohcti]

Yeah Golden Gal always hits me as "what the fuck am I listening to" in a way that I don't get with any other AC songs. I pretty much always skip it. They really nailed it live, though, gotta say

And yes I also agree about the length, if they cut those songs it would really do a lot for songs like On Delay and Bagels that reach some amazing highs imo but kinda get lost in everything