I was pretty immediately hooked, or at least intrigued. The energy and the vibe is definitely up my alley, the soundscape of it all. Not every song feels like a winner off the cuff, but some of them definitely do, and every song definitely feels like it does good work in the album.
I don’t think it’s accurate to say that it grew on me because it didn’t, really. I don’t even know that it’s accurate to say that I think it will grow on me, because my opinion of it stayed pretty static throughout my listening. But I want it to grow on me. Y’know? There’s a lot about it that I don’t intuitively enjoy right away, and that I still didn’t quite “enjoy” after two or three listens. There’re a lot of slow, mellow, and long songs—but they’re not just slow, mellow, and long, they’re thoughtful. They’re expressive. Sometimes that shone through and won me over; sometimes it just meant that the mixes weren’t compressed to come through on my headphones unless I doubled or tripled the volume from what I normally listen at. Which, that’s fine, I don’t think that’s really their fault, per se, but it is a little frustrating. Really what I’m getting at is that there was a lot that, even after many listens, and even while finding myself really wanting to like them, there was a lot that just wasn’t engaging for me.
Which was super frustrating! Because in so many other ways, these guys are my jam. They’re doing cool stuff, they have songs I think are awesome (Breezeblocks, 3WW, U&ME, Philadelphia), they do interesting composition and production things that make me want to listen over and over, their lyrics are great. I don’t usually love playing the “who do they sound like” game, but for alt-J in particular I kind of couldn’t help myself. I kept hearing pieces of Everything Everything, pieces of Young the Giant, and pieces of Modest Mouse. I feel like maybe there’s one more that I’m just barely missing, but those three feel right. And I love all of those bands! Or at least, in the case of Modest Mouse, the things that I am reminded of are things I am drawn to, things that feel real and weird in a cool way.
My hope lies in those similarities, in the recognition of those bands I like in this one. Those bands have grown on me immensely over time; I have big hope that alt-J will, too. They’re weird and interesting and fun, they have some banger songs, and they feel earnest and insightful. I’m giving an A- right now. I think it might be more accurate to call them a C+, given how much I like them, like, “per song”, but I’m looking ahead a little bit, and hoping to see them get even to an A in the future. I would like to like them more. I am hopeful.
alt-J complete, now listening to: Dom Fera
tunafruitsandwitch 