[Stan]

I'm only goofing, seems like pretty much everyone has said nah, I like the long intro and I really like the song including these bits.

I myself stink (of Acqua di Parma, to be specific).

[walkedlikeadog2]

Ahaha I also stink but that’s because I’ve been living off of lentils the last couple of days.

Just to add to the SWE rhetoric: I really love the call and response chorus a lot, but I’ve also been sitting with it for less time due to skipping the singles when they came out. I do wonder find myself wondering with this one and Passerby what it would have been like if the forms of the songs had been different. I almost feel like there’s a way to reorganize SWE to have a form similar to purple bottle, where the chorus turns into a coda a la the crush high section of purple. Not to knock the song at all, I actually love the form as is too but it’s just been a fun deconstruction viewpoint to take with it. I’ve been thinking something similar with Passerby. The studio version as something like an AABC form, and I’ve been wondering what it would have been like with an ABABC or maybe an AABCBC form. The latter might be kind of cool, let that section build a lot longer before pulling the rug out with the “thank you passerby” moment. But I also kinda like the brevity of the song as is. Maybe a testament to the material that it seems so formally flexible.

Another random thought: I’m beginning to go through the boots for the first time (skipping songs that will likely be on the next record). I heard the 2019 version of passerby, and it’s funny knowing that the melody change up from that version to the 2021 version was controversial initially! I’m having the exact opposite sensation, listening to the 2019 melody it sounds totally inverted and awkward to me lol. I definitely find that I prefer the 2021 melody but also maybe speaks to the power of that simple call and response, that people could find so much attachment in both versions? Did anyone else who abstained from the boots until recently find the same thing? Also I found the autotune to be nice, but again didn’t feel overwhelmingly moved by it, not more so than the studio versions anyways!

One last thought, I did find the verse melody in 2019’s Dragon Slayer to be a lot more immediate. I like Dave flexing his voice in the studio version, because he really does some cool things, but I think the verses lost a little bit of a directness that makes the 2019 version feel much more bold and clear. Otherwise though I think the dragon slayer we ended up with on record slaps, the pre chorus and chorus are beautiful, the drums are incredible, and I love the dreamy bright keyboard over the dirty one. Even the newer verses are still really cool, just a shade more clever than they need to be for my particular tastes!

[dio]

Fovrodi wrote:

Yeah definitely not , a lot of overwhelmingly positive posts when the single dropped and when the album came out. Surprised at this sudden flux of takes though

Yeah this kinda always happens tho to some extent. When Floridada dropped for instance I think people were actually mostly pretty hyped, some saying it sounded like friggin Grass, with a small quotient of dissenting voices complaining about the overly catchy, goofy chorus slowly growing into the overwhelming consensus after a while.

I think SWE was the most rapturous reception here as far as the singles go. Prester dropped seemed pretty widely hyped with only a couple complaints about panda bear sounding like sponge bob(?). Walker seemed just so-so. Both tracks tho continue to grow and haven't really gotten old in the way the final repletion of SWE's chorus already sorta has admittedly (its literally 1 too many. its cool, but if I dont uncover some secret track I haven't heard yet eventually, I will officially think its 1 too many).

Anyway, SWE is a big ass nearly classic-tier bop for the record. We've known the other tracks for between 2 and 4 years so its like the new kid in class.

[scrambledgreggs]

walkedlikeadog2 wrote:

Another random thought: I’m beginning to go through the boots for the first time (skipping songs that will likely be on the next record). I heard the 2019 version of passerby, and it’s funny knowing that the melody change up from that version to the 2021 version was controversial initially! I’m having the exact opposite sensation, listening to the 2019 melody it sounds totally inverted and awkward to me lol. I definitely find that I prefer the 2021 melody but also maybe speaks to the power of that simple call and response, that people could find so much attachment in both versions? Did anyone else who abstained from the boots until recently find the same thing? Also I found the autotune to be nice, but again didn’t feel overwhelmingly moved by it, not more so than the studio versions anyways!

I was never attached to the Passerby boot, I think I heard it once at the show I went to in 2019 and then pretty much forgot about it. going back to it later I barely notice the difference in the melody of the first part, but the difference between the bleary autotuned ending of the 2019 version and the more subtle studio version buried behind Panda's vocals is kind of colossal. I love both of them now but can't help but imagine an alternate universe where the autotune ending was preserved and extended in a pristine studio version

I'm also shocked to hear people not liking SWE anymore because everyone was so overwhelmingly positive when it first dropped. I understand not feeling like it fits in the spot it takes on the album but thinking it's generally bad seems like a complete 180

[Tropic]

dio wrote:

Fovrodi wrote:

Prester dropped seemed pretty widely hyped with only a couple complaints about panda bear sounding like sponge bob(?).

He does !

[dio]

how dare u

[howsoever]

If I had to rearrange the songs that ended up on Skiffs in their final form, it’d be:

1. Car Keys
2. Dragon Slayer
3. Walker
4. We Go Back
5. Strung With Everything
6. Prester John
7. Cherokee
8. Passer-by
9. Royal and Desire

But I guess I don’t dislike the official track order either. It’s just that Walker after Strung feels wrong, and so does We Go Back between Passer-by and Royal.

[captainlunatic]

prester john is the only one i skip right now and it's only because i've heard it a billion times

dragon slayer>car keys is an endlessly listenable one-two punch, one of my favorite openings of theirs

re: strung with everything, i still love it... the "sun's no better off lately" vocals sound like dandelions stretching up to the sky

[fernforested]

in the ama on reddit this week panda bear said something about really liking a lyric from ‘applesauce’ and that he heard it this week for the first time in a long time — i’m predicting they bring it back for the tour — also a sneaky response to a question about oddsac makes me thing they’ll do that too — i hope for ‘tantrum barb’

[KidEatsKeyboard]

I'm betting on and hoping for mr. fingers. there's no way geo didn't think "this sounds like the drone in mr. fingers!" when hurding that gurd

[wilandhugs]

KidEatsKeyboard wrote:

I'm betting on and hoping for mr. fingers. there's no way geo didn't think "this sounds like the drone in mr. fingers!" when hurding that gurd

Yeah my bet is Mr Fingers too, esp because of the vox too. I can see them using auto tune or vocoder during it, and that intro is basically just a hurdy Gurdy. I think What Happened? is also equally possible.

[coral lord]

Mr Fingers is a great candidate for the throwback Avey high energy song on the tour to replace For Reverend Green, Fickle Cycle, and Purple Bottle from the recent tours.

[hypo's]

captainlunatic wrote:

re: strung with everything, i still love it... the "sun's no better off lately" vocals sound like dandelions stretching up to the sky

aw ye

[dio]

I reeeeeeeally don't see Mr. Fingers ever sadly... I think its gotta be What Happened?

Tantrum Barb doesn't really go with this era and it seems hard for Panda to sing that while drumming

Screens is a big NO unless reworked very heavily

Working is possible I guess. But if you did that it almost seems like you HAVE to do Tantrum

Lady of the Lake or whatever seems a little too ambient or something to bring back. Like insofar as reworks are "for" fans, who would that track really be "for," to be cynical

I think they'll play Strung and What Happened so that they can retire either Bottle or Flowers.

[foxtrot]

love Avey's low part in the "sun's no better off lately" section.

The way he goes:

"the sun's no better off late-lehhhhh... eh eh eh."
"the sun's no better off nah-ahhh... ah ah ah."

just rocks.


also, after sitting with the alb um for a while now, the PJ into SWE lack of transition doesn't bother me at all. now that the singles feel like part of the whole, I see the album structure totally differently.

like others have said, Slayer/Car Keys/Prester are the opening suite. The PJ outro closes that suite and then the SWE intro opens the next. I see the album as having three suites/sides really.

1 - DS/CK/PJ

2 - SWE/Walker/Chero

3 - Passer/WGB/Royal


would put money on it being What Happened btw

[scrambledgreggs]

Could be Kindle Song

[foxtrot]

Kindle Song into Walker outro.

[Hellomark]

Always felt like Deaks backing vocals in the second half of Passerby had a certain Kindle Song kinship... What Happened feels most likely tho.

[unrecordednight]

i think it's gonna be fingers or tantrum barb, don't think it's gonna be what happened. i could see panda wanting to play tantrum cause that seems like it would be fun to drum live. what happened seems like it would be a voice wrecker to sing regularly on a long tour

[Slothrope]

Encore: Strung with Everything into What happened

[jetski]

I want Mr Fingers more than anything else tbh

just caught up on the last few pages. I can see what ppl mean about the weird pacing of the outro of PJ > SWE, although it never occurred to me until reading yall's comments lol. it would be interesting to make an edit where the SWE intro seamlessly fades in and see how it flows if you completely overlap it. I honestly just don't mind the kind of pause and restart lol...maybe I'm just used to it by now

I pretty much love the entirety of strung with everything but I'll admit the whole last section does go on quite long to the point where if you don't connect with the emotion of it then it probably becomes grating because it's so loud. really just clobbers you with it lol. I love the melody tho, and the stop/start element, the build from quiet to loud in the middle, it all hits for me, beautiful and joyful song

also, I never listened to boots so this is the only version of Dragon Slayer I know and I love the mix lol. It does feel a little distant/"shoegazey" but I like that about it, and especially gives the choruses a nice dreamy quality

[jetski]

archie wrote:

swe is so not a classic ac track. its the most referential thing theyve done to other music i feel like ever, except for royal and desire.

it has a transparency of structure, the classic chord progressions. idk

even though I love the song I can't dispute this. it feels like a rock song kinda, just clear chord progressions and basslines and a straightforward beat. I think for me Avey's vocal delivery throughout is so good that just carries the song enough that I don't care that it's like, more straightforward and transparent. that quality of it doesn't really bother me, but I can understand not being into it for that reason

I also think it's fun how the song is pretty straightforward except that the last choruses do the weird 7/8 - 9/8 thing, it always trips me up. and then the build is back in 4/4 but then it goes back to the odd time rhythm...so good

[hedgecore]

after they play strung with everything live, everyone's going to cream the jeans and say it rocks. or else i'll eat a donut

[roopn]

jetski wrote:

I also think it's fun how the song is pretty straightforward except that the last choruses do the weird 7/8 - 9/8 thing, it always trips me up. and then the build is back in 4/4 but then it goes back to the odd time rhythm...so good

I totally hear what you're saying, but you can count 4/4 all the way through the choruses, which I know you acknowledged in an earlier post. It's trippy because there's just a fuckload of off beat accents. To hear it a little more easily, listen out for the little tom hit panda does after each stop: that's on the one. All good of course if you vibe more with the 7/8 9/8 thing. Just fun to talk about!

[alvinrowx]

hypo's wrote:

patience!

I only rly liked three of the tracks but it's all morphing into it's own beautiful thing lately, I like it more and more


prestor, cherokee, and r&d are goddamned stellar as standalones AT LEAST imo

Same ! I found it boring at first, but it might be their biggest grower yet, which means a lot for AC. Not one of their best albums though, but everything is very balanced. There are no real letdowns, apart from Walker (maybe), and Car Keys and We Go Back are so catchy.
From best to "worst", I would rank them like that :
1. Car Keys / Passer-by / We Go Back
2. Cherokee / Royal and Desire
3. Dragon Slayer / Prester John / Strung with everything
4. Walker (and I don't even hate it )

After Tangerine Reef and this, it makes me hope for a new golden era... <3

[coral lord]

god i've never even considered the possibility of Oddsac reworks

i just want more reworks next month, they are the treasure of every tour

[Cooper]

Oddsac songs might suffer without everyone having a sampler, like a kick drum might not do what that thumping in tantrum barb needs, but I’d love to be wrong

[Tropic]

My lukewarm take is that there aren't any oddsac songs coming up on the tour. That isn't what they were asked

[Stan]

Green Beans extended jam ft Michael Winslow as the green beans kid

[jetski]

roopn wrote:

jetski wrote:

I also think it's fun how the song is pretty straightforward except that the last choruses do the weird 7/8 - 9/8 thing, it always trips me up. and then the build is back in 4/4 but then it goes back to the odd time rhythm...so good

I totally hear what you're saying, but you can count 4/4 all the way through the choruses, which I know you acknowledged in an earlier post. It's trippy because there's just a fuckload of off beat accents. To hear it a little more easily, listen out for the little tom hit panda does after each stop: that's on the one. All good of course if you vibe more with the 7/8 9/8 thing. Just fun to talk about!

yeah actually there was one time I was stoned listening to it and I suddenly heard it in 4/4 and I was like whoa!! I haven't been able to hear it that way since tho lol. it is fun to talk about, I love when they use rhythms that can be interpreted in multiple different ways like that

[dio]

lol

Tropic wrote:

My lukewarm take is that there aren't any oddsac songs coming up on the tour. That isn't what they were asked

def a chance we getting worked up for nothing. Like the response and the ellipsis seemed enticing but maybe it just meant that evENTUALLY they might do it

I think it makes a lil sense tho.. they like to have at least 1 if not 2 MPP/FBK reps but I also figure Flowers will get taken out of rotation soon and they don't want to do My Girls, Summertime OR Bro Sport with this set up. (mmmmaybe Summertime?)

So ODDSAC songs could work as a MPP-adjacent rework just like FBK tracks kinda do

[blindmowing]

just curious what scenes/colors/experiences you guys have when you listen to "prester john"

it feels dark to me compared to the other songs, especially to the songs directly surrounding it, and i'm having a hard time enjoying that shift in/out

[Tikwid]

blindmowing wrote:

just curious what scenes/colors/experiences you guys have when you listen to "prester john"

it feels dark to me compared to the other songs, especially to the songs directly surrounding it, and i'm having a hard time enjoying that shift in/out

I sense that darkness too, although it might be because the scene I imagine is pretty much just the official music video (maybe with the verses being the boys in their skiffs cloaks rather than boiler suits). But I have a seperate clear visualisation for the outro, which I posted in the transitions thread:

Tikwid wrote:

if the main song is this beautiful lament for the collapse of civilisation, the outro is the collapse actually happening. No more time for heroics or introspection, just fire blowing through a city or forest at frightening speed, choking up the night with thick clouds of orange smoke, sparks spreading in the breeze. The light of explosions illuminating the distant skyline. No people in the streets, no wildlife fleeing. The hurdy-gurdy just an echo of old modes of life and culture that physically can't exist anymore, a true image of a moment that's passed.

[KidEatsKeyboard]

blindmowing wrote:

just curious what scenes/colors/experiences you guys have when you listen to "prester john"

the 2019 version always made me think of overcast humid summer days. the studio version doesn't quite have the same mystique to it but it still feels vaguely rainy to me.

[archie]

jetski wrote:

archie wrote:

swe is so not a classic ac track. its the most referential thing theyve done to other music i feel like ever, except for royal and desire.

it has a transparency of structure, the classic chord progressions. idk

even though I love the song I can't dispute this. it feels like a rock song kinda, just clear chord progressions and basslines and a straightforward beat. I think for me Avey's vocal delivery throughout is so good that just carries the song enough that I don't care that it's like, more straightforward and transparent. that quality of it doesn't really bother me, but I can understand not being into it for that reason

I also think it's fun how the song is pretty straightforward except that the last choruses do the weird 7/8 - 9/8 thing, it always trips me up. and then the build is back in 4/4 but then it goes back to the odd time rhythm...so good

i didnt mean i didnt like it , i actually like it for that quality. ive been listening to anco since i was 13. im 24 now. i dont need more classic ac trax lol. im so glad avey is stretching out song wise to embrace that more traditional songwriter stuff inside him, n i dont mean songwriter open chords C G Em like bonnie prince billy, i mean that 40s-60s stuff he always references, the way 60s psych rock had that vein of nice extended chord progressions in 6/8 u know, maybe like 6 chords in a progression, with a melody thats pronounced and winding. an obvious example is house of the rising sun, altho hes turned me onto more obscure stuff. the way swe starts with that windy vocal . hes always been windy but now its set to the backdrop of piano chords bass and drums. its cool. im into it.

im not sure if im intoit in deakins case tho. avey has returned from the land of songwriting like mouth wooed her, streetflash, daffy duck to make something like swe. it has that confidence in going out to the extremes, enduring the asceticism of writing stuff with really simple and obscure tools, like an out of tune guitar and a delay pedal, to come back to their more traditional setup now with songwriting muscle man, muscle!!
resolve those chords u mad bastard david. uve earnt it.

[walkedlikeadog2]

I dig what yr saying Archie! One of the things that’s really struck me listening to Skiffs is how clear it is that the boys are really taking their musicianship seriously, really dedicating themselves to the task of growing their musical capabilities. I def see that in Dave’s songwriting in particular, it’s really interesting how, for the last decade of his songwriting, he seems to be exploring incorporating his influences in a more direct way. I hear SWE as a continuation of a line of inquiry that I feel like his songwriting on CHz opened up, his take on the psych prog sound, AC in rock band mode.

Unrelated, but I always love messing with tracklisting, and came up with this which I think works rather well:

Cherokee
We Go Back
Car Keys
SWE
Dragon Slayer
Prester John
Passer-by
Walker
Royal & Desire

Cherokee imo really works well as an opener, really slowly builds and sets the tone for the rest of the material, and has a little of everything that defines this album in it. We Go Back builds nicely from Cherokee’s ambient outro, and evokes the classic AC energetic track 2. Outro of Car Keys into SWE does something similar to outro of PJ into SWE, but feels a little less like a long ambient stretch. Dragon Slayer opens up side 2. PJ outro into Passer-by feels really right to my ears, both evoking dark blues and purples. “Thank you passed-by” into Walker sort of feels right, the sudden end of passer-by seguing into the sudden start of Walker. And finally, Walker’s outro evokes the warm, bright blues of R&D, that segue feels very natural to me.

Anyway, just messing around! Always a fun game to play with AC releases. Might make another version of this listing where Piggy knows comes after Prester to get that hurdy gurdy fix.

[ingenue]

blindmowing wrote:

just curious what scenes/colors/experiences you guys have when you listen to "prester john"

Green. Baby-shit green. Deak’s keys and Dave’s squirmy bass give me this image of green banners twisting over castle ramparts. A lot of the first half of the record sounds green (and orange) to me. “Car Keys” and “Cherokee” are red, however. Red and black. Dark. “Passer-by” and “WGB” dip into even darker hues, blues and blacks. Then “Royal” climbs out a bit, but it’s still purple-y and subterranean.

Oddly, as clean and pristine as Skiffs is sonically, it conjures some really foggy and primeval visuals. I’m talking third eye stuff here, whatever that means to you.

[dio]

ingenue wrote:

Oddly, as clean and pristine as Skiffs is sonically, it conjures some really foggy and primeval visuals. I’m talking third eye stuff here, whatever that means to you.

weird yeah, true

[hunkswithguns]

Concerning the Oddsac AMA comment, I'm guessing the band has tentative plans to do a one-off show or two where they jam through the album live and invite Danny to play along with some video jazz.

I bet this was their plan for the 10th anniversary that the pandemic morphed into the live stream. Even in the AMA, they specifically state that Oddsac is still very much an audiovisual experience. Fingers or What Happened are obviously live holy grails but I think it's a stretch to think that they'd toss one in and throw the Oddsac visuals on top of it for these tours.

Considering the tour schedule I'm guessing west coast in May/June or Aug/Sept and an Oddsac show or two in Sept/Oct.

[scrambledgreggs]

Been listening to the first Broadcast album recently and whenever this interlude starts I think it’s WGB: