TheTsordiLine

While Matt's always been the prime creative force, I think the music really benefited from the input of others. As others have said, Geoff Lloyd was amazing -- there was definitely something missing after Underdogs. I mean, I know Priske plays on the records, but you can't hear a darn thing, and even Lloyd's work in Near Fantastica is drowned out on Avalanche. I like both the solo records. But on Avalanche I think Matt said, "Now I can do ANYTHING I want!" and decided it'd be a good idea to make a sprawling record with nary a song under 5 minutes, which I think was a mistake and a little self-indulgent. He'd never be able to pull that kind of thing with MGB (Born to Kill excepted). WLRRR is much more concise, thankfully, but the music is a retread of Underdogs. Sorry, it is. Still a good record. There's some very Copyright-ish guitar on it, too -- so maybe Matt's loosening up a bit and letting his band stretch their creative muscles. I think Matt's a great songwriter and lyricist, but his music has always been a little . . . meh. I'm a fan of the hooks, the words, his voice, but I think he's always needed a sonic boost from other musicians. I will be flamed for saying that and I don't mind. My opinion is that if Matt doesn't let his current or other contributers lend their ideas, the music'll get stale, even if the words don't. WLRRR is evidence of that, but considering how different his last two records have been, I could (happily) be proven wrong with the next one.

I totally agree with The Inescapable Us. When I first got Underdogs I just looped that song over and over and forgot about the rest of the record. Off the top of my head I'd say I Miss New Wave. They dropped it from the US version of Beautiful Midnight but it's one of the best songs the band ever did. And maybe Failing the Rorschach Test (though that's probably not so much underrated as it is underplayed at concerts). And to whoever said the AOB stuff seems to be forgotten at concerts -- that's because the band broke up right after the record came out, and never toured it (except for playing a couple of songs the previous summer). And because the album holds so many unpleasant memories for Matt I don't think he wants to return to that material ever again.

I don't care about half-steps or ascending lines or where in the song the guitar parts appear. They sound the same. If some of you want to, strangely, deny this, or lay down some technical jargon, okay. Great. I understand you have an interested in Matt Good's continued artistic credibility. So do I, which is why I'm disappointed he's recycling arrangements. Hello Time Bomb sounded, immediately, like MGB without recalling any specific previous material. But the cut-and-paste in the three songs I pointed out goes well beyond that. It's there, it's disappointing, and that's that.

Personally i cant see the how similar those three songs are, to me they are all completely different. Mind saying why you think they are the same? There are of course many differences, but also some seriously similar riffage. Just listen to the first few seconds of Load Me Up, then the first guitar part in 21st Century Living. Exactly the same. Buffalo Seven is less similar, but it's so close I even picked up on it when I heard the song played live (having never heard it before). It's also in Running For Home, but that's with piano and I'm not going to get too anal retentive about it. But if I was going to get anal retentive I'd also point out Matt's self-copped the Apparitions rhythm on every album since Underdogs. It's not that big a deal but when he uses the same music in three songs (four if you count Running For Home), it gets me thinking that maybe he's running out of ideas.

I think Little Terror refers to the Mujahideen the U.S. trained during the Soviet/Afghanistan deal back in the 70s. Some of those people are now using that training, not against the Ruskies, but the U.S. -- hence the mother-and-son references. I'm guessing and could be completely wrong. I'm not sure what I think of the record yet. It's too early to tell but so far it sounds like everything I didn't like about Underdogs. I commend Matt for writing and recording this album so quickly, but it really shows -- the lyrics aren't nearly as strong as I've come to expect from him, and the quality of the music is uneven. He's recycled a lot of ideas from past records. Buffalo Seven = 21st Century Living = Load Me Up. I know this is his sixth full-length but there's really no excuse for repeating yourself. I can't complain about a return to a rock-ier sound, but then again . . . I can. This is Matt's sixth full-length. It shouldn't sound like it naturally precedes his second. That said, I've only listened to it a few times and I'm sure it'll grow on me. And I must say the songs are a lot of fun live.