[rayword45]

Day 383: Damn by Kendrick Lamar

Welp, I like Section.80 more than I like Good Kid, M.A.A.D City more than I like untitled unmastered more than I like To Pimp A Butterfly so here we go. What? levitate (fuck the real title) is a better banger than anything on TPAB and Section.80 may be his least technically impressive but it beautifully paints a world I (and a generation, because I'm pretentious enough to speak for a generation) can relate to with such ease, moreso than any of his others.

Wait, there's a new Pile album. Sorry, next time guys.

Day 383: A Hairshirt of Purpose by Pile

I fucking love these guys, haven't seen em live in over a year and a half now. They better play some summer shows. Their music, at its best, represents some sort of catharsis for me, and it conjures up images of home. I'm probably biased because Boston but whatever. Songs like Prom Song (the obvious), Don't Touch Anything and Baby Boy really help me get through my pathetically angsty teen emotions whenever some bullshit happens. They're certainly not a perfect band, as they're more of a singles gig for me than an album gig.

Damn, is this a stylistic shift attempt? A subtle one? I mean, there's still that grungy post-hardcore feel to all the tracks here but goddamn the crescendos. Everywhere. Crescendos in Rope's Length, Milkshake, Leaning On A Wheel, Dogs, more but I really don't feel like listing the whole damn tracklist or what seems like it. Are they trying to turn prog or ape Godspeed You! Black Emperor or something? To be frank the difference between this and the last 3 albums is readily apparent, but I'm exaggerating for comic effect. I'm not akin to this style of Rick's songwriting but it's pretty decent, just not quite what I was looking for.

So let's just comment on a handful of tracks because I never listen to this band in a cohesive context anyways. The whiny drawl of Worms is beautiful but doesn't really start the album with an explosion as I'm used to with this band. Much more subdued than any of their other openers (I'm just ignoring everything before Magic Isn't Real because screw that) but easily a standout track immediately. They seemed to have relegated the usual explosion to the second track, Hissing For Peace, but I'm not as enamored. No Bone is another soft acoustic song, pleasant but nothing special. Texas is a great blow of punk energy akin to #1 Hit Single or #2 Hit Single as is Hairshirt. These seem to be more popular among the fanbase so although they're generally not my favorites (not to say I don't like them, they definitely fit an angry niche) I get why they chose the former as the lead single. In fact I'm inclined to call Texas the true album standout, as it starts angry and never relents but only builds up in intensity (man these crescendos sure are something) leaving it a completely fulfilling 2-minute endeavor with no filler nor wasted potential. The aforementioned Dogs seems like it's trying to be one of those 90s-harkening quiet-loud-quiet songs that Pile is best at making, but something is missing. Slippery feels similar, what could be missing?

Oh yeah, the CATHARSIS. These are pretty good rock songs but there's less of the emoting, screams and dynamic contrasts that make up the best Pile songs. Or actually, there might be an equal amount but the song structures are just too different and not arena-rocky enough. I hate to say I wanted more of the same, because a band trying new things while maintaining their unique voice should be applauded, but something is just missing here for me. The raucous punk songs are my favorites for the first time, and those haven't changed much at all.

This seems way more album-formatted than previous Pile works. The lack of centerpieces is interesting. I Don't Want To Do This Anymore is a straight interlude. A bunch of these tracks seem like throwaway interludes.

...Okay I'm full of shit I googled this album to read some reviews and that's what people said. An album-oriented Pile album? Weird. But if you actually cared, rest easy knowing that those reviews do not affect my score at all. Because I've listened to this album 3 times now and I still haven't been able to enjoy it more as a cohesive piece. Maybe at some point it'll click, who knows?

Best Track: Texas
Rating: 6/10