At it's best, IaBJCLStH is a bracing, thrilling ride through emotions and sensations, a manic spill through the flashes of light that make life bearable, and the flashes of darkness give edge to the light. Songs turn themselves inside out, rush through themselves, an dense rushes of melody knock you off your feet - flashes of The Microphones at their swooping, riffing best. Those first 3 songs in particular, had me rethinking my whole 2016 top 10.
But that energy isn't nearly sustained for the 26 song, 68 minute sprawl. By track 7 things have gotten uneven. The band, seemingly out of melodies, starts unraveling into go-nowhere detuned experiments, GBV or Deerhunter at their worst, before tightening back up into flashes of inspiration, before falling apart again.
And honestly, its more misses than hits from there on out, a lot of mess to be endured. But it's still worth hearing, still borderline great. Some of that sloppy, stumbling sprawl is part of the appeal, and the flashes of brilliance are too bright to ignore, that "how much longer . . . can I wait?" as you swoop out of the Green Typewriters soundscape. I'd rather hear a mess like this than another riff on a well-worn riff anyday 4/5
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