So yeah, surprised by the (relatively) muted reaction for this tbh! Itâs not Bee Thousand because thatâs a perfect album where even the flaws contribute to the whole feel â but itâs goddamn close, and might be the 2nd best lofi album ever
I think @otto pointed out that itâs so much clearer in the production and that really is true. The weird touches here are tracks lengths/number, and stuff like violins and snoring, because the actual tracks themselves mostly sound like a band playing rock music, with a rhythm section you can distinctly hear rather than it just being a background suggestion
You have your handful of perfect alternate-universe smash hits, but this album comes to life in the odd in-between tracks for me. The beautifully unsettling The Ugly Vision with the amazing vocal on the outro, Dumbcharger and Striped White Jets with their menacing restrained build before any sort of resolution, Pimple Zoo going from psych freakout to sweet acoustic break and back again (even if I wish the end kicked 10 times harder), the lovely bass melody leading the way in King and Caroline over one static guitar chord, Tobin putting forward maybe his most purely catchy song ever completely devoid of any drums, and then ending the album on that trio of the hardest rockers on the whole thing â the screamed vocal section in Always Crush Me gets me every time, and Alright is just the biggest warmest hearted outro too, pure fuzz joy for the sake of making noise with your friends
It doesnât have the collage aesthetic of Bee Thousand, but it does probably best replicate their live show of any album â a ONE TWO THREE from Bob, race through some 1-2 min gem, ONE TWO THREE and off we go again, on and on into infinity. The sheer number and range of tracks is the point, throw everything out and mash it together and see what happens, the more you listen the more sense it makes. It sounds like it was recorded on the spot in one or two takes, not because itâs sloppy but because it sounds like a group with so much creativity and energy that they canât stay still long enough to repeat something, when theyâve got another idea to lay down, and another, and another
Might be a couple of days or so before I have time to re-listen to this gem of an album, but I can safely say that âMan Called Aerodynamicsâ really blows the door off its fucking hinges as an opener. A real statement of intent of a song
I do think there are a few too many songs on Under the Bushes, though not sure what Iâd cut - not quite on board with Matadorâs original intention to cut the last 6 songs (before restoring them on the CD and adding them on an extra disc to the vinyl) because a couple of the best songs are in there, but could maybe pick out a couple across the album to drop (would very happily lose Take to the Sky).
Took a little while for some of the songs on this to hook me in as some of them felt a bit directionless to me at first but they were growers, just took a bit longer than Bee Thousand or Alien Lanes.
Production on it sounds great though (cleaned up but not too slick yet - the effect on the vocals really works) and the best songs are amazing.
classic GBV sequencing quirks - depending on which album edit, either Donât Stop Now or Redmen and Their Wives would be amazing, epic closing tracks
and yet they actually opted to finish with Office of Hearts (good but not a patch on Donât Stop now) or Take to the Sky (fun, but worst album track?) Those goofy fucks
I thought Matador took them off and then relented but it might have been the other way around?
The final six tracks on the CD do not appear on the albumâs back cover. These tracks, which were included as a separate 12" EP in the vinyl edition, were not originally included in the completed album sequence, having been dropped from earlier proposed versions of the album, but were included at the request of Matador label executives who regretted their exclusion.
A^ Tracks âThe Official Ironmen Rally Songâ, âDonât Stop Nowâ, âBig Boring Weddingâ, âDrag Daysâ and âRedmen and Their Wivesâ were produced by Kim Deal.[7]
B^ Tracks âItâs Like Soul Manâ and âSheet Kickersâ were produced by Steve Albini.[7]
