your second point lol, this coming first helped me enjoy science fiction more, for different reasons but still applicable.

Okay, so if this was your experimentation fix for the band... well i guess i will ask, why did you need an experimentation fix for this band, exactly? Edit: Does that apply to every band you like? Devil and god was experimentation, i think, compared to what they did before, so why the need for daisy for you?

im not trying to be obnoxious or devil's advocate-cy, im trying to get why brand new fans like this album, honestly, because i just dont. I listened again tonight and it still sounds like a massive quality drop compared to what was before and what came after.

Album Rating: 4.5

thats hard to answer, there are a lot of variables that might make me expect (or want) more experimentation from one band compared to another. just as a general rule, i like it when bands push their sounds into unexpected territories.



YFW to Deja was an impressive transformation. and then they took it further with TDAG, and yet again it was an impressive transformation. so that's the way the trend was going. TDAG to Sci Fi, i might have been like "yeah i really like this, but i was hoping they were going to go even further out." but they did go even further out with Daisy, and i loved it. and then Sci Fi came and they reigned it in a little, but that's okay because:



1. Daisy gave me my weirdness/experimentation fix as i said

2. for some reason i didnt have the feeling that they were going to get even weirder than Daisy so i didnt expect them to go that way anyways

3. a lot of the time, Sci Fi sort of feels like all of their albums mashed together, and being a swan song, that probably makes it feel even more appropriate

4. even while reigning it in, Sci Fi still has its own distinct flavor compared to the rest of their albums

good answer and i get you.

i mean they could have gone way off the deep end after this though

Yeah some really good points there

"im not trying to be obnoxious or devil's advocate-cy, im trying to get why brand new fans like this album, honestly, because i just dont. I listened again tonight and it still sounds like a massive quality drop compared to what was before and what came after."

Short answer: TDAG are Sci Fi are good but over-laboured. They have their share of heart-on-sleeve moments but often seemed to indulge in a sense of restraint and sophistication than never convinced me fully (see: Millstone and Waste). This one has less of a feeling of wound-up pretence and more visceral appeal, so it gets my vote. Obvs hugely subjective and is more a reflection of the execution than the songwriting/lyricism etc but there you go

that makes sense. i love the restraint though, like the band's about to fucking lose it like on limousine or same logic, but reigns it in, which like you said doesnt happen here that much. the retraint anyway.

Hmm I think that part of their style is translated here, in a slightly less marked way. Gasoline and Noro play with rougher sounds and do briefly go all out, but they're also delivered in a very careful manner

I think im coming around a little to this, finally

Album Rating: 4.5

"Review Summary: Brand New burns down the forest"



Really like this.

Album Rating: 4.0

Vices for best opener ever?

vices is amazing, they've never done anything like that before or since. noro is also their best closer

Album Rating: 5.0

Lit Me Up > Vices

Album Rating: 4.5

yeahhh I love Vices but agreed hard on that one

Album Rating: 5.0

Openers ranked



Lit Me Up > Sowing Season > Vices > Tautou > Shower Scene

Album Rating: 4.5

Sowing Season > Vices > Lit Me Up > Tautou/Sic Transit Gloria > Shower Scene

Album Rating: 5.0

ftr sowing season, vices, and lit me up are all 5/5 tracks so it's just a matter of preference

Album Rating: 4.5

Yup agreed.

Album Rating: 4.5

Best Brand New honestly.