Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Scurrilous has so much whimsssssssssssyyyy doe, it makes up for the bpm drop. Scurrilous might have the most maybe skip tracks but the highs/vibes more than make up for it

Album Rating: 4.5

Scurrilous holds a special place in my heart because it was the one that got me into PtH. It is definitely slightly slower paced but I think GreyShadow just hit the nail on the head with it being 'whimsy' and less serious. Super awesome summery feelings throughout it and just sounds like a band doing what they want to do.

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

god, i gotta change my name to Grey, too old for this angsty shadow shit lmao

Album Rating: 4.5

I do like the whimsey on Scurrilous. Volition's issue is that it does take itself a bit too seriously, I think, and doesn't have enough moments of levity or winking humor that they typically do. But Tapestry, Dunsel, Reign of Unending Terror, and Termites bring the album to a screeching hault. It feels like they are really grasping for Moments in those songs without leaving much of an overall impression. Like, I love that guitar passage in the middle of Termites but it has such an absolute nothing of a chorus to the point where I literally forgot what it was until I pulled it up just now.



C'est Le Vie, Hair-Trigger, Tandem, Moonlight, Tongue-Splitter, and Sex Tapes make up for that run though. I also have a very big soft spot as a whole since I listened to it a ton when I was super depressed in college lol

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

woah woah woah woah Tapestry and Dunsel are insane, some of their best. Termites is great too.

Reign of Unending Terror is def the worst doe. pth was just like heyyy let's write a song that's so unabashedly average

Album Rating: 5.0

this was definitely a needed return to form. I put this up with Fortress and Kezia. They never truly disappoint but I feel like they got that magic spark back for this.



Fortress

Kezia

Palimpsest

Volition

Scurrilous

Pacific Myth

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

S: The Dueling Cavaliers, Gardenias

A+: All Hands, The Fireside, Soliloquy, Reverie (what a fucking run this is tbh)

A: The Migrant Mother, Little Snakes, From The Sky, The Canary

B+: Gift Horse, Rivet

Album Rating: 4.5

Move the Canary to B+ and Gift Horse and Rivet up to A and I'd agree lol



I can't get down with Tapestry and Dunsel. To me, they lack strong hooks and seem to just wallow in and out of random sounding ideas. But, different strokes for different folks

Album Rating: 4.5

i have not jammed this in over a year admittedly but off the top of my head:

s: dueling cavalier > gardenias > from the sky > reverie > all hands

a: little snakes > gift horse > soliloquy > fireside

b: rivet > migrant mother > canary

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Gift Horse is probs higher, i've just definitely heard it the least.

Album Rating: 4.0

"I can't get down with Tapestry and Dunsel. To me, they lack strong hooks and seem to just wallow in and out of random sounding ideas."



I've seen this said about numerous songs on Scurrilous and I don't understand why Fortress is so well-regarded when it is also much more guilty of what you're saying across the board.

Album Rating: 4.5

I disagree, the hooks are extremely good on Fortress and I think the songwriting flows a lot better. The themes and lyrical content also go a long way to tying everything together into a nice package -something Scurrilous completely lacks. The songs I'm not crazy about on Scurrilous seem much more adrift to me

Album Rating: 4.0

whoa didn't know their lead guitarist quit

Album Rating: 4.0

"The themes and lyrical content also go a long way to tying everything together into a nice package"



Given that Kezia's concept was their most realized by a substantial margin, I don't really consider the lack of one on Scurrilous to be any real loss, especially when the composition on Scurrilous is consistently more interesting than most (if not all) of Fortress. Despite also being more technical, it's also more melodic as well.



Frankly, if Scurrilous did have a similar lyrical approach to the two albums before it, I don't think it would have been panned as much as it ended up being since even its lowest lows (Reign of Unending Terror if I perhaps had to pick) are still better than the likes of Bone Marrow, an ideal example of a song possessing all the worst aspects that people criticize Scurrilous for. Yeah, sure, the lyrics may be cooler but the riffing is just laughable. Especially when there are better songs like The Dissentience on there in that regard.

i aint readin all that

happy for you tho

or sorry that happened

Album Rating: 4.5

I read he quit touring Pika but he’s still going to be writing on their albums

Album Rating: 4.5

@Pika I totally missed that too, damn. Well at least solid relationship still appears in tact:



Protest the Hero lead guitarist Luke Hoskin has announced his retirement from touring with the band. Though he'll no longer be hitting the road with his band of 20 years, Hoskin will continue contributing creatively as a studio member of the band

Say fuckin what

Album Rating: 4.0

Well, at least he's still writing, that's good to hear

Album Rating: 4.5

@Casavir



I just don't agree that the compositions on Scurrilous are better. Tapestry sounds, to me, like a Fortress song but...like bad. Bone Marrow has "THE ROYALTY MUST DIE" and an absolutely transcendent outro. It's one of the weaker cuts on Fortress, but that goes to show just how tight and solid that album is when that's the case.