I wouldn’t mind them on the condition they’ll have to try not to make copycat tracks of them (and that monster named KOBK). That definition is quite sad, though: a year later it’s quite clear that a good number of songs on this album are intended as a lightweight celebration of their career with no pretentiousness, but still they’ve managed to pull out some seriously good (although a little short) tunes. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but this feels to me as a transition towards something greater… or even more “braindead”, which I hope not, hahahaha!

…And that’s exactly the issue I have with their review: they bring up understandable criticism here and there without totally trashing the album, nearly giving you the feeling it could be at least a 5, but they give it nonetheless an incredibly abysmal score. It’s almost like they know how influential they still are and use that power to purposely blow down any artist the don’t appreciate when they are receiving mostly positive feedback from other critics. As soon as that lone review is aggregated to the Metacritic system, WOTP score will plunge to fricking 69 from 77, unless there are other positive reviews. It irks me to no end.

Y’know what? Since I’m having trouble to sleep tonight (it’s still quite hot here where I live and there’s also a couple of personal issues looping in my thoughts, but nothing really serious), I’ll engage. For example, I noticed that WOTP songs seem to be put in pairs in order to represent the opposites, or the lights and shadows, of a given theme. WOTP / Compliance —> The angry populist mob is trying to overthrow the government they hate / The said government and other social structures like gangs and religious cults try to get a hold of the mob by instilling a false sense of belonging and security against a difficult world Liberation / WSD —> The bravery and determination to let your voice be heard and go against your oppressors with a commonly shared sense of mocking sarcasm / The same bravery and determination but displayed from the single individual’s POV in an irate, ferocious light, to the point of aiming to the destructive annihilation of their oppressor Ghosts / Halloween —> A sincere, heart-wrenching longing for an authentically pure love lost to the pandemic / A grotesque exposition of an abusive relationship behind closed doors during lockdowns KOBK / Verona —> The worst survivalist instincts emerging from humans during hard times to the point of eliminating “love and compassion” / A love story born from pure passion and protection despite the world falling apart around it, as a demonstration that people can get through that without losing their humanity Euphoria / WAFF —> A wishful, hopeful, energic (but maybe also a little desperate?) call for a positive shock in order to soothe the pain for the current situation / A nihilist statement on human condition in relation to the global disasters happening around us… but with a good healthy dose of rebellious rage in order to carry on and ride through the storm, whatever happens.

Oooof, I didn’t expect WOTP to receive such fricking stellar reviews! I could’ve foreseen a better reception than ST, but not at this level. It’s so… strange, you know? Especially since critics have always been pretty much divided on their later production. But of course, I’m happy for our guys!

The final part with the multiple guitar layers, especially after that deafening falsetto, is particularly elating. The song it’s basically a GUAF that’s not sappy and it’s executed well, in pure Black Holes style with a sprinkle of The Killers.

Geeeeze, did someone spit in your breakfast/lunch/dinner today?

You spelled it wrong: it’s “come in my CAAAAAAAAAAAAVEEEEEE”

No offense, but this made me LOL a good deal. You can accuse them of getting old (and a bit hypocritical) with the “fuck da powah, let’s start revolution” schtick in Matt’s lyrics, but musically speaking I can’t hear how they’ve done the exact same thing in the new songs, apart from Liberation which comes a little dangerously close to that. Not even commenting on the “godawful melodies” and Matt “wanting to prove he’s the best singer in the world” (uh?? What the heck??) because I think they’re quite weak as reasons to hate this new material.

If anything (imho), it manages to turn the said “cringe” on its own head and craft it into something listenable and incredibly fun, if not a bit more clever. It’s also serious just when really needed (Ghosts, Verona) without trying hard to be like that. About creativity, yeah, you can feel some influences but it feels honestly even more Muse-y than ST.

I’m afraid I’ll have to skip Ghosts for a while… I didn’t even lost someone close to me as of recently and still it managed to fucking break me.

You loved Propaganda if I recall correctly, didn’t you? Well… let’s say Halloween it’s a sort of bonkers cross between that song and Megalomania. 😉 (Yep, I listened to the 20-sec snippets floating around) EDIT: Unfortunately (or maybe not?) we still don’t have any WAFF snippet.

It’s astonishing how we still haven’t heard a single leaked snippet yet, in spite of this early sale. I really hope some good-hearted fellow/chick who bought it decides to make the good deed…

That… wasn’t my point in fact. 😕 I just wanted to point out how pleasantly similar they sound. It’s almost like an unintended homage to Echo & The Bunnymen.

I found that KOBK chorus is quite similar to the one of The Killing Moon by Echo & The Bunnymen: both starts with the word “fate” and their chord progression is nearly identical (with The Killing Moon being slightly longer). Try and listen yourself:

Compliance leaves me… very perplexed. That’a all I can muster for now. I mean, the bass line is killer, Dom’s drum work is egregious, you can feel there’s a teeny weeny Muse-y feel buried in there, but… I don’t know, to me it feels too restrained and dry. Too quiet. I wonder why they didn’t beefed more up the choruses with some guitar à la Easily. I feel (and I hope) it’s going to turn out as the weakest track in the new album.