Review Summary: Diverse but focused, personal but universal, beautiful but brutal, Patterns in the Static is simultaneously a voyage into the unknown and an elegy to the naiveté of youth
A 2017 interview with The Classic Crime’s lead singer/songwriter, Matt MacDonald, is a portrait of a band that is coming to terms with a cold reality: these men missed their window to “make it big” in music. The band’s members are now husbands and fathers, and have regular jobs (DJ, photographer, Whole Foods) to sustain themselves. Unable to find financial or emotional balance under the demands of a record label, the band has been producing music independently for several years, starting with 2012’s exemplary Phoenix. While Kickstarter contributions from a dedicated fanbase have given the band a second lease on life, the scars from disappointed dreams, and the resulting reckoning with adult life, are laid bare on Patterns in the Static.
These topics are the thematic and emotional glue that hold together The Classic Crime’s most diverse album to date. PITS, unfortunate acronym and all, samples from genres ranging from toe-tapping pop-rock (“The Outside”), to face-mashing punk (“Cold Loud Dark”), and electronic/dub (“Highlights”). Injecting tight songwriting with stunning lyricism, the Classic Crime has delivered its most exciting, heartbreaking, and flat-out best album.
Before getting into the praise, though, I’ll take a moment to address the pre-release singles, starting with lead single / red herring “Take the Moment.” By far the simplest song on the album, it features a steady rhythm and some layering electronics to deliver a saccharine message: when in doubt, take time and be generous with love. In less capable hands, it’d be pure cheese. The Classic Crime is nothing if not sincere, though, so I’ll upgrade this to “mostly” cheese. Poppy without much “pop,” it’s a puzzling choice for a standalone single. The second single, “Miles and Miles,” is an improvement, featuring the grooviest verses in the band’s discography. The chorus has some strong musicianship but features lyrics that are a bit preachy and on-the-nose for my taste. Still, the chorus and bridge are effective in maintaining the song’s momentum, ultimately leaving this listener satisfied if not ecstatic.
At that point, all signs pointed to a well-executed, but not extraordinary, effort on PITS, reminiscent of 2017’s disappointing “How to Be Human.” And then, “The Outside.” The song, the band’s third single and the first to feature a music video, is three-and-a-half minutes of pop-rock perfection. Organized around a guaranteed toe-tapper of a rhythm and a verified earworm of a chorus, all members of the band get to shine in this tightly written track. The fretboard-tapping contributions from guitarist Robert “Cheeze” Negrin, in particular, are a fun and welcome pairing with the catchy vocals and boppy rhythm.
So, three singles later, we have lighter, poppier entries with lyrics ranging from saccharine to preachy. They’re solid TCC songs with tight musicianship, with “The Outside,” in particular, as a standout. Fun as they can be, though, these singles do nothing to prepare you for the emotional gut-punches this album has in store. Laser-focused on themes of nostalgia, growth, and dealing with isolation and insecurities, the album’s soul is couched squarely outside of the singles.
Two overtly nostalgic tracks, “Summer of ‘92” and “Highlights,” burst with emotion. “Summer of ‘92” evokes The Silver Cord’s “The Beginning” with its delicate fingerpicked chords and light strings arrangement, and “5808” with its heart-on-its-sleeve yearning for simpler times. The other, “Highlights,” is an absolute show-stopper and fascinating companion piece to “Summer of ‘92.” It’s also the song that 30 Seconds to Mars and Imagine Dragons have been trying to write for the last decade. With a nondescript, electronics-infused opening reminiscent of “Take the Moment,” it builds with some electronic drums and sweet, nostalgic lyrics. After a smooth pre-chorus, though, the song takes a left turn into an emotional sledgehammer of a chorus. Featuring an electronic/dub beat and a jaw-dropping vocal line from Matt MacDonald, the chorus recontextualizes the entire song, jerks you awake, and confronts you with the melancholy looming at the core of the album. When you catch your breath from the chorus, the song throws you into this verse, delivered in the same delicate tones as the first:
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As I get older and the weeks fly by
I try to catch up but I blink my eyes
And now I’m 35
Forgetting what it’s like
To watch the tide roll in from the ocean
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Lyrically, the song opens with an innocent-seeming childhood memory, and dives right into how nostalgia can trap us and sap opportunities to create new memories. It’s a musical and lyrical bait-and-switch that’s stunning and absolutely heartbreaking. Where TCC has historically drawn comfort in nostalgic lyrics, “Highlights” is a splash of reality and maturity.
Playing with nostalgia, however, is hardly the only trick that PITS has up its sleeve. The bulk of the album discusses an emergence from binary, absolutist understandings of the world, and stresses the need to forge something new amid gray areas. Even more interesting than this rich thematic territory, however, is how the band chose to explore it. Taking the album’s closing 4 tracks as examples, “The Only Thing” is a smooth track with clean guitars that lulls you into a sense of security. Cue the next beat, where “Cold Hard Dark” punches you in the face and pulls you into the moshpit with the band’s most punk-inspired track since Vagabonds. It’s three minutes of raw energy, with some welcome guitar wonkery and anthemic vocals. In the spirit of Rise Against, TCC repurposes punk’s musical concepts to explore mature and ambiguous lyrical territory often absent from the genre.
“The Water’s Edge” largely continues with the lyrical themes, but employs dissonant string arrangements and a pulsing rhythm to create atmosphere before diving into an overtly anxious chorus. It’s a definite highlight, and pairs well with the album’s closer, “Before I Woke Up” a fitting closer to a diverse album. The piano opening the album is an interesting touch, but the song kicks off in a big way when the slithering guitar line comes in. It’s the song that “Ghost” should have been, and features a perfect blend of refreshing elements like a drawn-out pace, unconventional structure, and heavy crescendos.
But let’s rewind: the guys saved their best for the middle. “PITS” (still a horrible acronym) and “Destroy Create” feature some of the finest songwriting and most devastating lyrics on the album. “PITS” employs staccato strings, an upbeat rhythm, time signature variation, and start-stop dynamics to make for an engaging and unexpected listen. Particularly, the sections filtered through a 11/8 time signature add a dissonant jolt that keeps things fresh.
“Destroy Create,” however, is the album’s finest track, and may be the best song The Classic Crime has ever released. A push-pull, dynamic rocker with energetic drums and standout guitar, the song reflects on the self-destruction and alcohol consumption that Matt engages in as part of the songwriting process. It’s not unfamiliar lyrical/emotional territory: “Medisin” was a standout on Silver Cord, but here the band is operating at another level. And while the entire band is locked-in, it’s Matt’s virtuosic lyrics and vocal performance that elevate this song to an instant classic. Be warned: this song is dark. REALLY dark. Here’s a sample:
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Backstage in the mirror (oh, I bet you are!)
Caught up in stories about how my former glory is lost
And how I used to be better (you were never good!)
I agree but that still leaves me with two choices
And one, is isolate myself and drink too much and burn it down
And two, is to just quit but I can’t do it
I’ve over committed,
So number one it is.
Right or wrong, the map that finds these songs
Always sends me into oblivion
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The call-and-response, on top of being incredibly sad, is a remarkably clever lyrical touch. Where "PITS," the track immediately prior, had discussed the "angry ghosts [that] keep me company," "Destroy Create" chillingly brings them to life. This device hits where it hurts: Matt's pleading vocals leave zero space between the listener and the darkness that he struggles with. “Destroy Create” is melancholic and powerful, brutal and beautiful. As a lover of music, it’s bliss. As someone who’s come to care about the person behind the music, it’s devastating.
With Patterns in the Static, The Classic Crime has released its most mature and melancholic album to date, without sacrificing an ounce of the energy that won over its fanbase. It’s an intimate and personal album with universal appeal, though it offers challenging material that’s not for the squeamish. In short, it’s The Classic Crime at its absolute finest - so get out there and support these guys.
Highlights:
Destroy Create
Highlights
The Outside
PITS
Cold Loud Dark
The Water’s Edge
Before I Woke Up
Interview referenced in the first paragraph:
https://www.behindthesetlist.com/matt-macdonald-soul-searching-journey-classic-crime/
