[Shaun]

My review for this week:

I loved both of the 1975's previous two albums, and hated their debut. The last two were close contenders for "album of" their respective years; and A Brief Inquiry... is definitely one of the best of the 21st century, so I went into this with high expectations.

Those expectations... were not met. But that's not to say it's as deserving of the panning it's got from some (even Pitchfork still gave it an 8). A lot of the jabs the album has received seem to be personally-motivated, clouded by judgment that Matty Healy is a bit annoying on Twitter and their fans are largely similar to KPop stans. My biggest gripe with this is the sheer weight of it; dream sequence pianos linger a little too long and contribute nothing more to the album than an attempt at making their criticisms of the world more palatable. There are good messages (Greta Thunberg's opener) and there are muddled ones.

There are - thankfully - a handful of great tracks and some will perform very well in my best of 2020 lists. "Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America" is gorgeous, featuring Phoebe Bridgers who's also just released an album this week; "If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)" has drawn a lot of comparisons to Tears for Fears and I guess I can see the influence, but it's unique enough to stand out; and "Me & You Together Song" is haplessly cute. In hindsight it seems wise for them to go so far from their niche with the first single 'People' because it's a jolt of adrenaline in an album that could very easily be described as narcoleptic. Not my favourite song of theirs, though, by a long shot.

Shave off the following and you've got a great album: The End (Music for Cars), Streaming, Yeah I Know, Then Because She Goes, Shiny Collarbone and Having No Head

All in all I'd still give the album a 7.5... but it's an admitted dip in form for the band.

[Smithy]

I just added this to my library and it’s the Apple Music deluxe edition so I checked Wikipedia but the tracks are the same?

Is there not a standard version?

[Smithy]

Not being funny greta I appreciate everything you do but this isn’t really the time or the place

[Jake.]

Originally Posted by Smithy

I just added this to my library and it’s the Apple Music deluxe edition so I checked Wikipedia but the tracks are the same?

Is there not a standard version?

The apple one adds on a video or something I think, I just deleted it

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

The regular version is underneath the deluxe one CLOWNS

[Shaun]

Reviews for this close today - and tomorrow we'll go for another fresh release (a la Chromatica week) with HAIM's "Women In Music pt. III". Which is only just over 40 minutes. Almost paltry compared to this week's.

[Shaun]

Right then, after a grand total of FOUR reviews the 1975 end up with a score of... 53. Well, 52.5 but we round up on this little game.

I am very much enjoying the idea that I made a handful of members listen to something they hate so much they couldn't even be bothered to pan it

A new week dawns, and we're now checking out the new one from HAIM. Their third studio album, it seems to be getting good reviews and follows the moderate success of 2019 singles "Now I'm In It" and "Summer Girl" - both of which are just bonus tracks here. Will edit the OP with the Spotify link for the album now.

[Shaun]

Since the Spotify link contains the 3 bonus tracks (and 2 of them are already-known, very very very very good singles), that'll bump the total runtime of this album to 51 minutes. Sorry for the false advertising girls!

[Shaun]

at least some acknowledgment of the thread would be nice

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

Can we do arca as well as haim this week

The indie bitches need representation

[Shaun]

I won't stop you

[Black Dagger]

I didnt know HAIM had released. Im on this one.

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

Originally Posted by Shaun

I won't stop you

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

It’s annoying that there isn’t a version of haim’s album without the deluxe tracks

[Shaun]

but Summer Girl and Now I'm In It are bawps </3

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

Then why not just have them as regular album tracks instead of “bonus tracks” it’s messing with my OCD

[Shaun]

idk that is annoying yeah. I think they released like 5 songs in the build-up to this and then probably panicked that everyone had heard the whole album already before it was released (a la the 1975)

[Samm]

oops i missed the 1975 i listened to half of it i think don’t think I missed much though with what I listened to i would of given ha like a 4

anyway

the indie girls did it again. I knew from summer girl and now i’m into it (my favourite song of 2019) this album was going to be stellar and they didn’t disappoint. loved the folk rock summery california vibe, like I was cycling around some retro city. I’ve enjoyed every single so they’re definitely still the highlights for me, with the most recent (the steps?) being one of my favourites. (non single) highlights included up from a dream, 3am, another try, all that ever mattered. the weakness of this album for me is that some songs feel like they lack something or don’t hit the mark.

8/10

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

The steps SOTY

[LaLaLand]

WIMpIII is honestly one of the best albums I’ve heard in years. Genre-blending, Incredible lyricism, emotional range - it’s excellent.

[Tom4784]

I didn't care much for this one, tbh. I loved Haim's previous two albums but I found a lot of this one to be forgettable and repetitive. There's a few great songs here but there's also a lot of filler which bogs the whole thing down.

5/10 mainly because the good songs are mostly great but the rest of the album passed me by in a blur.

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by LaLaLand

WIMpIII is honestly one of the best albums I’ve heard in years. Genre-blending, Incredible lyricism, emotional range - it’s excellent.

we need a score /10 darling!

[Jordan.]

I really liked this a lot, it was a good one to follow The 1975 because everything I thought they did wrong Haim did right here. There was clearly multiple inspirations and genres thrown into this album and yet they managed to effortlessly incorporate and blend them (and doing it flawlessly) It was such a chill easy listening experience I could see myself coming back to it a lot during the summer (also gonna visit their other albums since this is the first I've actually bothered to listen to in full ) Only minor negative there were a couple of "meh" songs towards the end that could really have been switched with the singles that got demoted to bonus tracks.

Highlights: Los Angeles, I Know Alone, 3AM, Now I'm in It, Don't Wanna, The Steps

8/10

[Samm]

i know there’s still some past big releases this year to come, but i request what’s your pleasure by miss jessie soon because mamn.. this album is a masterpiece

(grimes first though )

[Jake.]

Women In Music Pt. III Review

I’m glad that I gave this a second listen because I left feeling a lot more impressed than I did on my first. I do feel that it’s perhaps a few tracks too long and there’re one too many songs which almost blend together (leaving them feeling a bit same-y), but thankfully the better songs are dotted around so it doesn’t feel mundane. It didn’t blow me away by any stretch, but for the most part it was a pleasant enough ride.

Highlights: Los Angeles, I Know Alone, 3am, Don’t Wanna, Another Try, All That Ever Mattered, Now That I’m In It

Album Rating: 7/10