1. Sorry if I'm incorrect on this, but didn't APC release a song called "Kindred" several years after Eat the Elephant? Sometime around the Sessanta tour?

2. Song is great. Definitely reminds me of Mer de Noms. Awesome that Josh is back too.

Yeah, they did. Also, Josh is a beast behind the kit, this gon' be potent.

"2. Song is great. Definitely reminds me of Mer de Noms. Awesome that Josh is back too."

that alone gives tons of hype

> Sorry if I'm incorrect on this, but didn't APC release a song called "Kindred" several years after Eat the Elephant? Sometime around the Sessanta tour?

You’re correct, that’s my bad. I totally missed it since it was part of the split EP with Puscifer & Primus, not a standalone APC release.

moral compasses obliterated.

think this is the first time i'll say about an apc song that the tone is rancid fucking dogshit and the guitarwork is tasteless and annoying rather than ethereal and mesmerizing

and the first time i'll say about a maynard song the vocal production / mix is straight up bad

very uncomfortable everything here, if it were a batch of french fries it'd be left in the fryer 5 times too long with some lime flavored soap seeping into the oil

Best song since 13th Step.

don’t understand how people think this is up there with the early stuff. Drumming is bland, riffs are bland, vocals are bland. Couldn’t wait for the track to be over

Don’t care for the super dry drum tones on this mix.

It's not first new music since ETE. They released a song called "Kindred" in 2024: https://youtu.be/nblym3nsUis?si=KpmsD_JbKVsuPeTA

it's fine

I got bored with it. I get bored with a lot of stuff I used to like, though. But yeah, old APC was better.

I think this song could be a lot better if they changed that middle section.

And the verses.

You know what, I'ma stfu

it's alright! nothing amazing but it's worthy of repeated listens at least.

Nice to hear a bit more oomph in their sound again but I agree a lot of Maynard’s lyrics in the recent albums have left me underwhelmed, they can be quite bland and barely above what AI would seemingly generate for a song like this lol

awesome tune

^^ In fact, here are some Maynard-inspired song lyrics from ChatGPT:

Neon prophets on a broken screen,
Selling saints through a cheap routine,
Everybody drowning gracefully
In synchronized idiocracy.
Plastic halos, dopamine,
Velvet rage in a feedback dream,
Marching proud into vacancy,
Singing hymns to idiocracy.
Mother of compliant misery,
Beautiful catastrophic parody
Swallowing thought mechanically,
Turning gods into celebrity,
Static prayers and circuitry,
Digital divinity,
Humanity reduced quietly
To idiocracy.

"I got bored with it. I get bored with a lot of stuff I used to like, though. But yeah, old APC was better."

This describes me perfectly. I really want to like it but i think my taste has changed. It's certainly not bad, but its... ok. Kinda the same as that new Saosin, like it's fine.

Better than anything off Eat the Crayon but Maynard is becoming an active detriment to all the bands he performs in. Uninspired lyrics and just pedestrian vocal delivery. Nothing clever or interesting or dynamic comes from him these days.

he should stick to the wine. his place in jerome az is great

Goodness this is some pathetic work from Maynard.

Eat the Elephant came out 8 years ago, damn.

yall he’s been at it for 40 years lol give him a break

There is nothing about this song that will make me return to it over songs like Orestes, The Hollow, or The Noose. Sounds more like a filler song to me.

"yall he’s been at it for 40 years lol give him a break"

I recognize that. But he does himself no favors when it sounds like he just doesn't give a shit. You can be making music for 40 years and still maintain a creative spark.

Where am I going
And how did I
How did I get here?
How do I get back?
Where am I going
And how do I
How do I find my
How do I find my
Where am I going
And how did I
How did I get here?
How do I get back?
Where am I going
And how do I
How do I find my
How do I find my way?

I mean, you can be 60 years old and write better choruses than that.

just by reading the comment section here I'd think the song is dogshit.
having heard it, it's pretty cool, love the guitar sound, and since i have no interest in lyrics to something i'm not obsessing over, there's nothing outright embarrasing or bad about them or the song. as far as his vocals not being up to par with his heyday, dude's 60 give him a break he's still a great vocalist, probably has a more limited range nowadays tho. and he's not angry anymore so yeah

"think this is the first time i'll say about an apc song that the tone is rancid fucking dogshit and the guitarwork is tasteless and annoying rather than ethereal and mesmerizing"

wuhh oh. WEEEOOO WEEEEOOOO tone police coming through WEEOO WEEOOOO

guitar tone is awesome, sounds great

Y'all talk about him losing his range: I beg you to go listen to Randy Blythe still belting vocals like a man half his age. Stop being so forgiving of this dude just cause he brought y'all Pushit and taught you the Fibonacci sequence. Absurd that this dude's lack of creativity gets its own vanguard.

@Christbait You're right about Randy, he still sounds great. But it's an entirely different technique. Our voices naturally deeper in old age, and Randy primarily does mid/low screams and his sung vocals are usually quite low. As long as he pushes from his diaphragm he could keep doing this for years, because the natural changes to his voice might only deepen the range of his screams.

Maynard has/had a tenor vocal range, so no matter what his technique is, he will not be able to push through to hit those notes. I think that's why his later career vocal performances have something almost delicate about them. Doesn't mean we have to like it, but comparing Blythe to Maynard is apples to oranges.

Yeesh you guys are merciless. Maynard is fuckin' old lol. Some of this still hits, but let's not sit here and act like the band as we imagine it didn't end with 13th step. Anything good since then, even just parts of songs, is a bonus.

@Vicarious, you're right. It was a broad comparison and I wasn't aware of those factors.

also who the fuck is acting like the forgiveness police here, lyrically it’s not that bad considering of the fuckery going on in the world, yea I suppose the chorus could’ve been better but it’s not a good use of energy to be so critical about it when it’s not you being the creative imagining the intent behind the words said

"I suppose the chorus could’ve been better but it’s not a good use of energy to be so critical about it when it’s not you being the creative imagining the intent behind the words said"

Suddenly art criticism isn't allowed because I'm not the one making the art? No, sorry, that's bullshit. Of course I can complain about bad lyrics, that's half of music discussion. I don't care for a rich libertarian to tell me in milquetoast platitudes how much the world sucks. That's the sort of circling the wagon shit that I complained about before. Stop giving this dude so much leeway.

i didn't mind the chorus, i thought the first lyrics were bad. Not as bad as "time to put the silicon obsession down" but still...

or have more imagination

or be baited again lol

this song is growing on me.

has anyone ever /actually/ listened to a mjk song and thought "damn this dude is really good at meaningful lyrics and has a real message to convey and isn't a degenerate buffoon pretending to be a man of culture pretending to be a degenerate buffoon"
like really
maybe 1 in 20 tracks outside 13th step are contenders for that but generally at his most artistic he writes sardonic snark you can acquiesce in if you feel like impotently picking a fight with the air on any given day
can't expect a dead cock to rise more than twice in a 24 hour period, or however the saying goes

This band wouldn't be as hyped if the singer wasn't in Tool

Better than anything off the last album, so I'll count it as a win.

@jr i actually agree completely
i find both bands very overrated, and the ratings to even the early APC records to be bloated compared to a lot of other stuff
don't get me wrong, i enjoy them, or well, i enjoyed them back when i actually listened to them, but never thought of them being anything close to special
some tool stuff is definitely special though, but i don't think i'll ever fully understand how that band became so big both commerically and in underground circles
all of that being said, maynard sounds fine, ya'll are tripping

"has anyone ever /actually/ listened to a mjk song and thought "damn this dude is really good at meaningful lyrics and has a real message to convey and isn't a degenerate buffoon pretending to be a man of culture pretending to be a degenerate buffoon"
like really
maybe 1 in 20 tracks outside 13th step are contenders for that but generally at his most artistic he writes sardonic snark you can acquiesce in if you feel like impotently picking a fight with the air on any given day
can't expect a dead cock to rise more than twice in a 24 hour period, or however the saying goes"

I'm sure this is bait, but yes I have thought that. His old lyrics were great. Go listen to H or Reflection. Or even Aenima. That song really comes alive when you hate the city you live in haha.