I was wondering why Merzbow was a meme cos I'd only heard the new soft stuff. This is extremely itself

cleverer than it wants to be. successfully evil

I'm now wondering why I've never liked both sides of a rap beef

Started with disc 5, soft and old and tasty and Hispanic.

I love crate digging and love detective work and like the Flaming Lips fine but

Had never seen Eurobeat as Casio keyboard simulated rock before. "Running in the 90s" is the real song here; meaningless Italo Italo doubletime brain candy

Really amazing hooks, weak vocals

good but hollow in the way of old musicians

lovely arrangements but I don't buy the vocals

First time in years I've opened up the equalizer (to take the bass down). Only "Possible Side Effects" grabs me

punches through its own cliches by playing them straight and leaving space in the mix. More Simple Minds than Simple Minds; more the Cure than the Cure.

Michel is a bit quiet

it's quite easy to be annoying when you're annoyed. Punk without the punk (PIL happened a long long time ago).

thought this was a 2025 album, in which case it would be an intentional study in genre. As it is it's more sincerely dumb

i think this club is haunted

wee bit hushed (home recording) by which I mean only 100 Loudness Unit Full Scale. album was made for money; as so often in the history of literature, this arbitrary pressure leads to good things

sasscore pigfuck

Could have so easily been a "Seinfeld" - unwatchable because imitated, cliched, harvested, sucked-dry. A victim of Razorlight and Kings of Leon and all that. But happily it lacks the conceit and flatness that would come from straining to be this anthemic and loved.

more influential than good, more admirable than loveable

this is all the same song nine times?