[WCW]

Thank goodness gracious

[Daffy Duck]

Can I get a PM from somebody please?!

[got dodgson here]

Can I please get a PM??

Thank you!

[fernforested]

May I have the P.M. please !!

[NaomiBlue]

Can some kind soul punch me please? So glad I pre ordered the vinyl so I don't have to feel too bad!

[Stan]

I think King's is a real overwrought clunker but everything else is great. The Panda songs are his best band shit since MPP. Stride is the second best Deakin song, after GOAT House. Amazing performance from Josh there.

[fernforested]

wtf is that “bum bum” adlib in gem and i ?? lame

[preacherben]

fernforested wrote:

wtf is that “bum bum” adlib in gem and i ?? lame

i like it

[preacherben]

surprised about how much i'm replaying ACAB. something about it is so fucking catchy and wacky and wonderful

[Hellomark]

Yeah it's been stuck in my head all day, so good. Actually feels very Slasher Flicksy to me.

[lhtd]

ACAB is so Dr. Dre to me, I love it

[soothsailor]

I also like bum bums

[soothsailor]

The flow of this album is growing on me with every listen. Pretty much straight heat all the way through

[blindmowing]

I’m pretty sure everyone has said they loved the bum buns except for fern

—-

I’m so grateful for this album. Still just shook with awe at how well it turned out…it’s already entered the cannon with ST Feels SJ and MPP as perfect AC albums

[kevytarebear]

The bums bums are one of the highlights of the album for me. I was geeking when I first heard them. Totally unexpected.

[hedgecore]

One first impression after the album ended was that I wished the songs/mixes were a little more dense/upfront with all the elements like Soul Capturer is. Overall just grateful for the music

[dansemanatee]

blindmowing wrote:

I’m pretty sure everyone has said they loved the bum buns except for fern

—-

I’m so grateful for this album. Still just shook with awe at how well it turned out…it’s already entered the cannon with ST Feels SJ and MPP as perfect AC albums

i'm not crazy about the bums but i'll live

and yea it's definitely up there, felt so immersed already listening to it for the first time, this album is like a nice blanket or a good hug

[destiny]

wow magicians of baltimore sounds fucking amazing. the piano is fucking wild!!

[hedgecore]

FEEL ON1NE!!! wrote:

wow magicians of baltimore sounds fucking amazing. the piano is fucking wild!!

I love Noah's slow drum fills/however you want to call em in the chorus. so good

On the first listen, Gem & I stood out to me for the coolest mix of the bunch. Really liked the swells and what not

[destiny]

Gem and I's lyrics remind me of the buoys lyric explanation panda did Lol. I've been fucking waiting to exclaim lets do it again with Gem and I. This song has been stuck in my fucking head for 4 years.

[Nil_0001]

Hellomark wrote:

Anybody think this album works a lot better on speakers than on headphones?

This 100%, maybe with time it'll get better on headphones

[destiny]

what the fuck is this all the clubs are broken song bro. It bewilders me. also is that a fucking flute

[MFpotus]

Love that sample in Gem & I that plays during "this is the sun". Gives me chills

[destiny]

Kings is my favorite colors' studmuffin cousin

[Nil_0001]

hedgecore wrote:

FEEL ON1NE!!! wrote:

wow magicians of baltimore sounds fucking amazing. the piano is fucking wild!!

I love Noah's slow drum fills/however you want to call em in the chorus. so good

On the first listen, Gem & I stood out to me for the coolest mix of the bunch. Really liked the swells and what not

Noah's drumming is a big part of AC, I was practicing drums yesterday and played along to some of this songs. Genies, Magicians, Broke and Gem and I are very fun to play. He just does something with the sticks that's quite unique in every turn, Imean there's what he did on CHz, and I'm still amazed at the setup he had for Feels/SJ

[DILWeed]

Kings isn't really a highlight but is anyone else surprised by how engaging it is? I felt like it shouldn't work for 5 minutes as anything other than a long outro to the album, but it keeps me pretty captivated. There's something really wild and early 00s about it beyond it just being another vocal piece. The bass and little guitar flourishes against empty space feel like a cleaner Danse, and Avey's almost throat-singy vocals are mixed so hugely. They went from having autotune to doing Tuvin vocals but the delivery still feels almost synthetic from how he messes with the vowels. I never really saw the appeal in the boots but it stands up to the rest of the songs on the album imo.

[soothsailor]

magicians is outstanding, might be 2nd favorite atm after defeat. suuuuch a cool atmosphere in the opening verses, and they nailed the harmonica in the choruses. everyone sounds locked tf in

[Slothrope]

Magicians (And I cannot stress this enough) From Baltimore

[coral lord]

Am I crazy or do the drums sound a little weird in magicians. They get like loud and quiet in quick succession. Can’t tell if it’s on purpose or a glitch with the rip.

[blindmowing]

that long note Avey, Panda and Deakin hold together at the end of Kings makes that song for me... and just when you think it's going to end with that, we get a quick moment of silence then one more little Avey micro verse

i'm so excited to hear reviewers reconcile the shift from Defeat to Gem, lol

[blindmowing]

foxtrot wrote:

Magicians turned out brilliantly - love the fuzz bass in the chorus [...] The guitar squalls! Also the saloon bar Americana piano stuff totally elevates the back half. Amazing.

Gem goes down so nice. Everyone talking about the ‘bum bum’ vocals (which rule) but what about the bits added in the chorus?! That little Panda bit and the high note from Avey add so much!

Also, the drums throughout are so fucking tight. High in the mix and they just snap on every track.

just wanted to say... YES to all of this, massive highlights

Deakin is becoming a freaking WEAPON for this band...maybe he always has been and i just notice it more now, but damn, all four dudes in this band are operating at the height of their powers right now

[meemo]

Count me in the wtf are these 'bum bums' camp, at least initially. I will remain open minded to them growing on me with more listens. Gem was the only demotitisy track for me, the rest are all impressively executed to my ears. It was my favorite from the boots other than Defeat, and I felt like it could have been better. But like I said, I need some more time with it.

Curious to hear Tropic's take on that one, as I know he was a big fan of the boots too.

But my god Broke is stellar! Can't understand why THAT isn't a single. It's so catchy and perfect, like some have said, one of Panda's best band contributions in a loooong time.

Overall pretty damn great. Even Kings turned out better than I thought it would. I did not like that one from the boots at all.

[Slothrope]

stride rite still has yet to hit for me… probably my least favorite on the thing. I’m glad everyone else seems to enjoy it much more. Genies keeps showing up towards the bottom of rankings i’ve seen, i don’t understand it’s at the very least in my top 4 as it stands

[r_o_s_s]

blindmowing wrote:

Excited for someone like r_o_s_s to listen to the album since he hasn’t even heard the live versions

Been super absent here for personal reasons (sorry for abandoning the 5-songs thread foxtrot)

Soooo exciting to see that people are digging this though!!! I’m probably gonna try and wait for the official release just because it’s something for me to look forward to - and I wanna make sure I’m listening in the best quality possible for my first listen. Gonna be travelling up to Scotland from Manchester on the release day so will be listening several times then. Seems like the right vibe.

Everyone’s descriptions of ACAB have me soooo puzzled and curious. A disco-inspired medieval folk song??

As much as I’m excited for all the big ones I’ve heard so much about for the past several years - I’m probably more excited than anything for another Deakin ballad. Especially since people have been saying it’s his best song yet.

[foxtrot]

Ha! No worries dude. Will be hard for people to stick with it now that the album is out there anyway!

Hope you’re doing ok. This thing is going to brighten your world. It’s basically exactly what we all wanted.

[kafkaesque]

holy shit, stride rite... absolutely wondrous. just reminds me of how badly we need another deakin album. pure gorgeousness! this guy is truly the george harrison of this band - doesn't write many songs but kills the ones he does... this and royal? please...

magicians was my other clear highlight in this first listen (aside from defeat which is obviously amazing). absolutely wonderful, a 10/10 classic song. can't gush enough about it.

i don't wanna harsh the vibe in here, but i did think genie's was kind of a miss... i never listened to the boots for that one personally, but the production was just super clunky & it didn't grab me much. the final section was my favorite part. we'll see if it grows on me, but it really does sound markedly worse than the other songs and doesn't really do much for me musically. just a bit too meander-y and repetitive (somehow simultaneously). could've done with some more soundscapes or something for more texture. and those vocals are mixed really poorly, shocked about that given how great the vocals sound otherwise.

gem was pretty good, but it lacks the euphoric magic of the desert daze performance (where i first heard it). the chorus could've had bigger synths going on like there, but as it stands it sounds a bit... sparse? and doesn't quite punch like it should.

in general, though, i'm really excited about this direction. they're really hearkening back to 60's psychedelia and dad rock and spinning it in a way that sounds so fresh and entirely their own. we're so lucky to have this band! i do wish genie's and gem were better (especially the former), but i can't be mad at the record as a whole which is honestly great. after one listen i may prefer skiffs, but it's close!

[dio]

Not a big Stride fan. Not mad at it or anything but um hm idk. Might be only song I have arguably some demoitis for. Feel like dealing vox have been stronger live? And the placement of a geo sample seemed different lol? Super minor complaints.

I like Genies pretty good. Cool to have two songs on last 2 records that are split Avey and Panda co written (Prester last time). I get vibes of bratty British school children recollecting a journey to Narnia during their winter vacation and I want the lyrics for the first bits before it's "sea of light" x100

I am NOT gonna engage in ranking these outside of what I'll say next but I don't blame people for doing that.

But yeah Broke is best panda, Magicians is best avey, should have saved Defeat listening for now maybe or listened once (I even took a month+ off it). It'll settle tho. And um Clubs is the best new song lol.

Kings is great and I feel like we sound sorta like normies given the amount of people like harshing it's vibe. Like are we mad that there's a song without drums...?

[kafkaesque]

i actually really fuck with king's as a closer... it's really pretty and (like someone else said) surprisingly engaging for what it is. definitely not my least favorite on the album, which would probably be genie's.

[dio]

I'm also not gonna fuck with thought experimenting how this whole album would hit if it was like Painting With in terms of never heard it live. I mean that's too fucking hard anyway cuz it means no experience with boots and then multiple concerts I attended since fucking 2018 so there's no way. Unless like I saw them live and somehow had control to never check boots/YouTube..

But I will do it just once in THIS comment and imagine like. I'd guess I would have died basically if I went into this fully fresh. ODDSAC was the last time I had that experience, maybe Tangerine reef and solo albums I guess, since even PW was bathroom freebirded and Amazon snippet freebirded.

I would have been destroyed I believe. But also who knows. Anyway not worth thinking about EVER again

[dio]

There's something a little muted about Genies maybe and Im Surprised I like the initial build almost more than the middle titular lyrics part of the ending. The ending is muted like I said a la In the Flowers Hove and I think I have to adjust. Sometimes last year I think it was more like that and other times maybe earlier on it was a bit more hype possible.

The harmonies and instrumentation and the tempo change-y moments in earlier part are great tho.

It's just surrounded by my arguably favorite songs in the record. But it's definitely not a major dip from that