Dude yes—momentum is exactly the word I used when furiously texting friends who were listening. Tyler needs to buy DJ Drama a whip. Such an amazing effort, blown away.
Been waiting on this for years... thanks to Stereogum for giving them some press after the long hiatus... honestly one of the most under-the-radar bands of the past decade... like early MMJ doing Krautrock... Sunswimmer (2014) is front to back masterpiece
I got so fucking into MMJ in college from 2010-2014 and James’ singing just blew my mind over and over again. It was a whole other experience live.
Over the years, as they’ve explored other projects, toured less, receded a bit from top headline spots, I’ve wondered about how transformative this music really is, and I think The Waterfall II proves that an MMJ release is still something to behold.
I think Steve Hyden shared a quote from James who said he was a bit salty about MMJ’s perception / status in music and it seems warranted. I really can’t think of another band that could release a coherent, thoughtful album of what was left on the cutting room floor 5 years ago.
I’ve always wondered without really caring why MMJ escapes the conversation of “best of their generation” bands—Wilco put their first album out 4 years before Tennessee Fire. I think it’s an interesting question.
I was beginning to accept that the JJ solo records would be the primary output moving forward—and there’s still plenty of shine in those—but goddamn these guys are just so good, just give em whatever they want so we can get more than 2 albums in 10 years.
And, 'Eternally Even' is an amazing album, totally captured 2016, but was recorded and released before the election, so I guess I'm just concerned about how much MSNBC and Fox News JJ has watched since then.
I'm worried Jim is gonna be one of these guys where the 2016 election broke his brain. I love MMJ, probably the first contemporary band that I truly loved--nothing better than At Dawn & It Still Moves. That said, I am concerned JJ will never get over what happened in 2016, he really fell hard for Obama and seems fairly lost in the Trump and post-Trump America.
I fully support his commitment to social and political issues but I just don't want to hear songs titled "Collusion (We Know It's True)."
ugh, same, wish everyone was just bummed out all the time, and cynical about the world. Yeah, hate it when people aren't embarrassed to have a belief system or think independently.
I don't like judging people's music taste, if some song brings you the joy other songs have brought me--that's fucking awesome, all the best...That said, you couldn't be more wrong with this unsolicited garbage take, Aphasia is nothing other than stunning.
I love all the takes coming in like "bahh, liberal media got em! bums me out!" and then everyone else going "where have you been for their first ten albums?"
I feel like it's gonna keep coming up. And I feel like a pedant for continuing to comment it, but they're really from NJ. Listen to any of their albums or read their interviews and you'll learn D'Agostino and Whipple are from NJ. D'Agostino grew up by the shore and Whipple in Morris co.
I could care less where blogs say they're from when the music itself clearly harkens to that post-hardcore NJ scene of the mid-00s (CEG giving it an indie twist). And the lyrics are strongly set in NJ towns, on highways, hell even at fucking Six Flags ("Jackson")--these are the things what I care about.
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