Fantastically written piece. I remember being 15 when this came out, fresh off of becoming obsessed with the Beastie Boys and having friends at my new high school who pledged allegiance to pop punk, telling me they saw the video for "Fat Lip" on MTV after school the previous day and I had to watch MTV that night to try and catch it. I did, and I ran out to buy the record the next day and loved it dearly. My taste moved on from it when college rolled around, but my love for All Killer, No Filler still stands. It showed it's namesake every chance it could.
That line about "One More Time" causing absolute frenzies on the dance floor was right on the money. I remember that song playing at parties I went to in college around 2005 and people were still reacting the same way. Never has a song made me feel that good. Whenever friends in social settings (!) used to talk about a single song they could listen to for the rest of their life, my answer was and will continue to be "One More Time."
Hi, everyone. I'm the best friend he's talking about here. Direct quote from our text conversation about the record this morning:
"I’d be able to enjoy this more if my pants weren’t filled with cum."
Happy Friday.
The song is fine! Best morsel from this entire thing has to be the news about where the new record is headed. Mars has often said they felt like the first two albums felt a bit claustrophobic. It's going to be great to see where they take that older mentality of genre-mashing they used on those first two records after the sonic journey they've been on with their last four.
It's fantastic to know that we're going to get more Secret Machines. I remember being floored by Now Here Is Nowhere in college and being impressed even more by their live offering. I'll definitely be revisiting their catalog this weekend to celebrate.
This very much seems like a polished, return to form for Ernest. It has that glossy, translucent feeling of W&W while still embracing a sonic element here or there that he hasn't played with yet. I think there's something to be said for an artist realizing where their strengths are and playing to them. People would argue this is coming out too late in the summer but I disagree: he's just waiting for you to work out that perfect night swimming spot for the summer to deliver it to you.
Dean and Randy appearing to shine a light in this dark time is so refreshing. 30 seconds in and I remember why I fell in love with No Age. Time to revisit their entire catalog!
The magnitude of their live shows cannot be understated. I saw them tour Tyrannosaurus Hives in 2004 in a small(ish) venue in Dallas, TX. Freshly turning 19, I thought I had seen it all and my immortality was all but assured.
That show changed my life. They must've blazed through 25 songs in an hour and a half and were razor-sharp for all of them. Pelle had the entire audience eating out of the palm of his hand before they even played a note. His control over the room was both incredibly brave and masterful. I have yet to see anyone come close to that.
16 years later and they are still the best live band I have ever seen.
I've seen Washed Out around five times and there's something so purely blissful about enjoying them. It's probably just me choking down on the high hard one of nostalgia. It's probably time for me to give Within and Without another spin.
It reminds me of the 2018 singles they released without bringing much interesting stuff to the table. That's not to say it's bad by any means. It's simply okay.
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