Big Thief - U.F.O.F. (May 3, 2019)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

― System, Wednesday, February 20, 2019 7:01 PM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

― System, Thursday, February 21, 2019 7:01 PM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

new album, u.f.o.f., in may

― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Tuesday, February 26, 2019 11:17 AM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Nice! I loved that song live solo, and it sounds great in that arrangement too

― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, February 26, 2019 11:35 AM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

01) Contact
02) UFOF
03) Cattails
04) From
05) Open Desert
06) Orange
07) Centruy
08) Strange
09) Betsy
10) Terminal Paradise
11) Jenni
12) Magic Dealer

― diamonddave85​​ (diamonddave85), Tuesday, February 26, 2019 1:45 PM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

im gonna be really sad if "not" isn't on this album with a different name

― diamonddave85​​ (diamonddave85), Tuesday, February 26, 2019 1:45 PM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

So they're doing band version of a couple of the songs from abysskiss. Can't say I mind that.

― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, February 26, 2019 2:20 PM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh my god, UFOF

― Mule, Friday, March 8, 2019 6:38 AM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

can't stop listening to the new song

― hot dog go to bathroom (cajunsunday), Sunday, March 17, 2019 3:33 PM (three weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It’s a beautiful song. I have to admit I’m not loving this meek/wispy approach to her vocals lately, which seems to be half performance and half production. Still psyched about the record.

― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Sunday, March 17, 2019 7:53 PM (three weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It befits the spirit-like feel of the song, imo, like a ghost in static. But yeah, hope she’ll mix it up on the record.

― Mule, Monday, March 18, 2019 7:43 AM (three weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've become obsessed with this band & this record just in the past month as a result of this thread, and I'm miffed that "Objects" didn't get even a single vote. Lyrics to that one are kind of whatever, I'll grant; but musically, it reminds me a lot of Pinback, one of my favorite bands ever to do the indie rock thing

― The depressed somebody from the popular David Bowie song, (bernard snowy), Tuesday, March 19, 2019 6:28 AM (three weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Figured it was time for a new thread. Two songs out. I like Cattails and love U.F.O.F. -- one of those songs you just play on repeat all morning and then it's in your head all day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1CvjxgWgTU

this album is gonna be good as fuck

The singles released so far aren't that exciting imo

first track of this is astonishing

Hopefully Spotify is unfucked by the time I leave work, or maybe I'll just (gasp) buy it.

try reinstalling it? it’s what worked for me

reinstalled, restarted my iphone, etc.

lol what a day

anyway: this record!!! “betsy” is blowing my mind. i love that their songs are never in a hurry to get anywhere and yet they go everywhere

I ordered from Norman Records so my copy might not some til monday

bit underwhelmed so far tbh. it's super stark and if there are hooks, they're yet to pop through

the cover is giving me very much 2005 freakfolk vibes

not isn't on this

I love this record. The only real dud for me is the baffling rework of From. And I think Cattails doesn’t totally fit and could maybe have been a single instead.

no the “from” arrangement is AMAZING

I also could do without their weird penchant for lo budget sound fx. There’s one that sounds like someone drinking the very end of a slurped.

*slurpee

oh man "Strange"

Posted to wrong thread: Wow, the new album is extremely wonderful. But also quite difficult to listen to without crying.

'From' is incredible and her vocal performance on it is so bizarre. And is that a fire crackling in the background?

First impression: melodied are weaker: too basic and repetitive within the song. Not my cup of tea. Loved Capacity though.

capacity did nothing for me but this was really immediate for me and i love it. i'm completely enamoured by that part in "strange" with the sustained "ahh" and the ascending bass line.

weirdly "from" really reminds me of late-period radiohead?

also really love the way "jenni" is so immense after most of the album is so quiet

also occurred to me re new from, quite in rainbows-y

I think it's a less immediate, less song and voice-driven record than the first two were, and part of me wishes that weren't the case, but at the same time, it's a very beautiful record with a wonderful sound.

I guess when I saw her live the new material did have that immediacy, and I feel like somehow that got a bit lost in the production of both this and the solo record. The moment I think it gets closest to that prior immediacy is on Orange.

I mean the way she does From here, for example, just connects with me much more than either recorded version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QckxTQQ9XBo&t=364s . Somehow Luke Temple's production makes her voice sound too small and cute, although I do like the abysskiss version a good deal.

The song that connects with me most directly is Terminal Paradise, which I think benefits a lot from the full band arrangement. Others, like UFOF and Strange are a bit more obscured, though really good.

And anyway, at the other end of the spectrum, songs like Paul and Real Love sometimes felt a bit too heavy handed to me, so overall I like the direction she's going in.

i've liked big thief and am excited to check this out but o_O this new pitchfork review has some lines

"Adrianne Lenker, the singer and oxygen of the Brooklyn quartet, whose lyrics can, among other things, bind all that is living and has ever lived together at the cellular level. "

Ha! I read it too. It's goofy to put it mildly.

Being able to bind all that is living and has ever lived together at the cellular level is what it takes to get a 9+ BNM score on Pitchfork in 2019. The only people meet that criteria this year are them and Beyonce.

yeesh, I love her too but

If you listen to the album and then read the review, it all kinda makes sense if a bit overblown. I do think the strength of Big Thief is that they seem plain and familiar on first blush but somehow pull you into a deep and strange world where the songs they created are the only things that exists.

But if I’d read that review prior to hearing a note of Big Thief, I’d be expecting something different—like, Charalambides or something.

that reads like the writer mixed up their Big Thief review with their "reconsidering midichlorians" piece on a Star Wars site.

I'm interested in the among other things, like can I bring my plants back to life with her lyrics? jk I love this record and I like this review too

I like parts of the review by but it's got a little too much dip on the proverbial chip

I've listened to this album twice and so far it seems a bit weightless and slight. The great thing about Capacity was its contrast of delicacy with hugely muscular moments. Each song had a very memorable 'bit' in it that was delivered with surprising immediacy whereas on this album it feels like they're tiptoeing around, trying hard not to be blunt.

This is resonating more for me than Capacity, though it is a very insular record.

I'm listening now - this is sounding fabulous. Opening two tracks especially

totally fucking obsessed with this record

i could go on and on about any song but "strange" has that gorgeous sunlit coda and "jenni" is this huge swallowing mouth of doom

“Century” has burrowed into my brain.

you have wings of gold
you will never grow old

Entrancing album. It takes me places that feel eerily familiar but I can't quite put my finger on it, like a déjà-vu. It's tender like an embrace.

i have never heard of this band before. their slow, calm, harmonical music is like a warm blanket i can wrap myself in. which works quite well right now as the temperatures outside in berlin are still quite low. the singer's voice who occasionally is quite mickey mousey (joanna newsom anyone?) bothers me sometimes but i kind of have gotten over to it. somehow their music to me sounds like coming straight from a huge dark forest full of elves and dwarfs. my fave is the first song "contact". i found it a bit hard to listen to the whole album in one go. maybe they should have gotten rid of a couple of songs in the second half. my attention span these days is not what it used to be. it must be due to the reign of the smartphone and stuff. concentration and patience have become a real challenge!

you should listen to their last album, too!! its also a blanket.

this album is beautiful

thinking there isn't anything I will love more than this for a while at least

another beautiful album by this band, but it isn't hitting me as hard as Capacity yet. prob just need to let it sink in a bit more. love the production though, particularly the way the drums sound on songs like the title track.

This is really amazing

Evokes a sort of jazzy, gauzy quality that I love about Hejira by Joni without really sounding derivative of that at all

Also would recommend if people haven't heard it - Rozi Plain - What a Boost

again not identical or anything but a very great and evocative album that has a somewhat similar feel and mix of folk/indie/jazz, def comes from a different place musically but if you like this you might like that

listening again and i think the second half is what makes it special. love how 'strange' uses a blues shuffle beat and still manages to remain so delicate, and how adrienne sounds like a totally different person on 'betsy.' and 'terminal paradise' and 'jenni' are just devastating.

The great thing about Capacity was its contrast of delicacy with hugely muscular moments.

i mean, there's that big moment near the end of 'contact,' but yeah, maybe that's one thing i miss on this record.

Evokes a sort of jazzy, gauzy quality that I love about Hejira by Joni without really sounding derivative of that at all

The great thing about Capacity was its contrast of delicacy with hugely muscular moments.

i mean, there's that big moment near the end of 'contact,' but yeah, maybe that's one thing i miss on this record.

― i think ur a controp (voodoo chili), Friday, May 10, 2019 9:35 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I also wish there were some harder-hitting vocals/songs of the sort the first two albums had. She definitely goes more toward the delicate on this one.

how adrienne sounds like a totally different person on ‘betsy’

The wispy vocals help emphasize that weird quality they're riding so well here. It's like they exist in their own hermetically sealed universe. Going back to the older albums, they almost sound too normal to me.

Also, the arrangements are all immaculate. I'm enjoying this a lot.

their slow, calm, harmonical music is like a warm blanket i can wrap myself in.

This is a great description of the quality I most prize in any music.

xp

I also wish there were some harder-hitting vocals/songs of the sort the first two albums had. She definitely goes more toward the delicate on this one.

― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, May 10, 2019 12:30 PM (five hours ago)

but the atmosphere of it is so amazing, better than anything they have achieved previously

I listened to all 3 albums in a row the other day & I really enjoyed how small and intimate this one sounded. Masterpiece, my first fave, sounds a bit too brash & widescreen when sandwiched between Capacity and UFOF. I’m really digging this one, with particular props to the Paranoid Android guitars on the title track.

listened another time w the hejira comparison in mind and it opened up the album enough for me that it's now my fav big thief i think? ums helpfully otm

I'm thinking this along with the new Lambchop will be my two most regulars listens this year. i love it. hoping the new Bill Callahan will be great to join them soon.

I love this record. I wish I found the lyrics more rewarding but that's my only criticism really

I'm definitely having a harder time accessing them than with the past albums. Really any criticism I have is in the context of this still being almost certainly one of the best records of the year.

yeah, "not as special as Capacity" is true of 99.9999% of all records.

I've been completely obsessed with this record for the last couple of weeks, have now gone back to the previous two and abysskiss, and... wow.

Has anyone seen them live? They're playing in London in a couple of days, and while it's sold out I'm tempted to try to get hold of a ticket.

i completely adore the lyrics on this album

really liked em when I saw em

saw them circa masterpiece, very good

one ear to the floor
my dog barking loud
couldn't tell for sure
where the screaming sound
was coming from

I made the effort to get a ticket and was really glad I did - they were absolutely fantastic..

Also while "Not"wouldn't fit on this record, I hope it's on the next one, I can't get it out of my head.

I haven't seen the band but I saw her solo and it was magical.

They are playing Brooklyn in October -- I hate having to plan these things so far out in advance. It's a fucking weeknight show, how can I decide five months ahead that I'll be up for it?

You buy the tickets safe in the knowledge you can sell them on (for face value) if you don’t feel like it.

(Or alternatively don't buy them in the knowledge that you can buy them face value if you feel like it (although this is probably slightly more hassle).)

was really struggling to fall asleep last night and kept putting on this record and nodding off and waking up in different pockets, really ideal even though i'm currently suffering

I Think this is growing on me slightly. I keep going back to it and little things pop out each time. I like how it doesn't sound anything like Radiohead, but there are small melodic vamps that suggest these guys grew up with Kid A and HTTT.

I really wanted to like this but her voice is the epitome of banal indie.

I had a similar feeling when I first heard them - maybe not 'banal' but 'been there, done that'. The stronger/lyrically clearer songs - Paul, Mythological Beauty - were what pulled me in, feel like this one's definitely a harder sell.

a lot of this actually does feel like a better executed version of what Radiohead were going for on some of A Moon Shaped Pool, it's not that close overall but the songwriting is very Radiohead at times ("From" in particular invokes "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" quite strongly and there's the occasional melodic fragment that feels 'Radiohead' here and there) and all the individual pieces are there for the AMSP vibes (the loose swirling piano in the background of "Cattails", the general sense of ambience, a lot of the lead guitar parts especially on "From" and "Terminal Paradise", the drumming) though they come together in a much better way than on that album

i understand how some can prefer Capacity to this if they were really into the lyrics on that but this one's so much stronger musically, but i do much prefer them going all in on the dreamy folk thing that was only one part of Capacity and still don't really care for the more straightforward indie rock songs like "Shark Smile"

this actually does feel like a better executed version of what Radiohead were going for on some of A Moon Shaped Pool

The similarities are indeed there, but 'better executed'? Pffft.

I think it's unfair to compare the two too much. Radiohead is large-scale, grandiose, maximalist. Big Thief are still grounded in acoustic folk-rock and country and this album is extremely minimalist. The only similarity is in some of the melodic and guitar elements.

tfw singing in a whispery way is the epitome of banal indie

i can see feeling that way but it's a real projection from the listener

Nah. I love whispery vocals but hers lack anything resembling a signature. I would really enjoy this album otherwise.

This is the best album ever made

let's put it this way, it is quite good. probably in this year's top ten. what i really love about it is that it is an album flowing nicely with lots of excellent songs. something very rare these days.

it hasn't got the emotional heft as Capacity.but I am a convert

never heard the band before but I put on the new one for review and damn this is impressive

1st three things I thought of, in order, were:

1. Comus "First Utterance" (lol)
2. Led Zep III
3. early Joanna Newsom

pretty special mix of sounds, catchy stuff, I'm legit impressed

I don't know anything about this band (I kept confusing them with Big Youth ), but I like this album a lot.

Check out their new Song Exploder episode. P cool.

Still the best I've heard all year (in the genre). Hits so very hard without trying to do so. Effortless brilliance, straight to the gut. Goddamn.

Coming back to this again after a break, I'm finding I especially like the second half, i.e. from Century onward.

Also would recommend if people haven't heard it - Rozi Plain - What a Boost

again not identical or anything but a very great and evocative album that has a somewhat similar feel and mix of folk/indie/jazz, def comes from a different place musically but if you like this you might like that

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, May 10, 2019 9:24 AM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

this album is very nice, goddamn. i don't have the intense emotional reaction to it like i do to the best of big thief, but it has a similar sonic palette (especially rozi's "old money" which would've fit right on ufof)

this is still the best album of the year.

a mysterious unmarked 7in arrived with big thief b-sides. still no "not"

apparently a new new album is coming out later this year

oh wow, i'd heard rumours of an adrianne solo album coming later this year but a new album from them already is even more exciting - hard to think what could be more exciting this year

here's the press release from a retailer that put up a listing early:

“30 miles west of El Paso, surrounded by 3,000 acres of pecan orchards and only a stone’s throw from the Mexican border, the band Big Thief (a.k.a. Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik, and James Krivchenia) set up their instruments as close together as possible to capture their most important collection of songs yet. The band had only just finished work on their 3rd album, U.F.O.F. – “the celestial twin” – days before in a cabin studio in the woods of Washington State. Now it was time to birth U.F.O.F.’s sister album – “the earth twin” – Two Hands.

In sharp contrast to the wet environment of the U.F.O.F. session, the southwestern Sonic Ranch studio was chosen for its vast desert location. The 105-degree weather boiled away any clinging memories of the green trees and wet air of the last session. Two Hands had to be completely different— an album about the Earth and the bones beneath it. The songs were recorded live with almost no overdubs. All but two songs feature entirely live vocal takes, leaving Adrianne’s voice suspended above the mix in dry air, raw and vulnerable as ever. Where U.F.O.F. layered mysterious sounds and effects for levitation, Two Hands grounds itself on dried-out, cracked desert dirt.

With raw power and intimacy, Two Hands folds itself gracefully into Big Thief’s impressive discography. This body of work grows deeper and more inspiring with each new album. While you listen, let your own two hands rest in front of your body with palms facing inward and see what power grows between them.”

also the tracklist (featuring "not"!):

Rock And Sing
Forgotten Eyes
The Toy
Two Hands
Those Girls
Shoulders
Not
Wolf
Replaced
Cut My Hair

and release date is 11 october

you need to adapt your username

I'm excite, hope it's as good as U.F.O.F., which is quickly becoming one of my favorites of the year.

ahhhhhh i'm so happy! i love this band

looks like an edit of "not" is the first single and out tomorrow possibly

https://music.apple.com/au/album/not-edit-single/1473937677

it's on apple music already but nowhere else

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIcVwH47uxQ

love this, lenker's delivery of 'not the hunger revealing' especially

wow

Damn I guess I have a new favorite Big Thief song. That's amazing.

a really nice detail in this is the chime-like sounds (not sure if they're guitar or keys or some percussion) in the right channel for a lot of it

Beautiful.

wow they really are the best band in the world

New one apparently produced by same dude as Capacity (UFOF was a different producer).

UFOF I think was Luke Temple, this one is a guy named Andrew Sarlo

Hmm, er, wait, he is listed on UFOF too so IDK.

not sure why I thought it was Luke Temple

I needed this song right now

love it so much

If you’re in the UK... They just announced a little gig in London next Monday and will be playing songs off the new album. If you register now you might be able to get tickets when they’re released on Thursday.

wow this is great

musically it reminds me of Silkworm which is like the last thing I thought I would be typing

definitely a different feel than the last one

goddamn whoever took that solo went IN

what are you all on about? i'd say a frightening consensus is building up there. i only listened to the first three minutes of that song and found them not good enough to continue to listen to the next 3 minutes. repetitive, tuneless, without interesting drumming or beats and her voice is a little annoying anyways. is the 2nd half of the song much different from the first?

lol

never change, alex, your dislike is a reliable indicator that it's gonna be something I love

can you put in words what you like about it?

sorry didn't read your post carefully. so do you like it? and if yes what do you like?

I haven't listened yet, but based on what I've heard from the most recent album they have a superb sense of defined space within their sound, nothing is wasted. And of course they are catchy as hell. I love how so much of their stuff smolders with restraint and only occasionally cuts loose.

xp btw i am not sure if i wrote it before but i always had the impression that our tastes overlap quite a lot, sleeve.

they do! that's why I'm fascinated by how much we still disagree on

i discovered them via their last album and really loved the first five or six songs which indeed where catchy and restrained and captivating. they build up an eerie atmosphere, which i love. the second half of the album got a bit boring and was more of the same with less focus. this new song does strictly nothing for me.

ha, see I really like the last half of U.F.O.F! especially "Century".

is the 2nd half of the song much different from the first?

― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Tuesday, August 13, 2019 2:44 PM (twenty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

...

reliable indicator your thoughts are worth expressing about a song: you listened to half of it

if u like sick ass guitar shit yeah

if you’re not willing to put the least amount of work in as a listener then i don’t think this band is for you anyway

xp. century is the last excellent song. i could do withour the last four songs. i just realise that the singer's voice reminds me a little of stina nordenstam. which i prefer a lot though.

anyone with any reasons why that last song is supposed to be good?

idk did you listen to the whole thing yet

what are you all on about? i'd say a frightening consensus is building up there. i only listened to the first three minutes of that song and found them not good enough to continue to listen to the next 3 minutes. repetitive, tuneless, without interesting drumming or beats and her voice is a little annoying anyways. is the 2nd half of the song much different from the first?

― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Tuesday, August 13, 2019 11:44 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

#BigThiefSquad: Abort, retreat! Alex is onto us pretending to like Big Thief just cause we're screwing with his head! Truman Show at 11!

I mean Alex, your dislike feels genuine, but "repetitive, tuneless, without innersting x" yeah ok, I mean, sure you can say that about Big Thief, but it doesn't seem like you actually listened to their latest record, or this new song (as you just admitted). Nor that you are willing to even listen to one (1) whole song.

Why shit on a song a lot of people think is great when you've not even listened to it proper?! Idgi

ok the guitar action in the 2nd half is quite interesting. another plus she stops singing. but still altogether this song is not for me. i think it doesn't really hold together. as i said i liked ufof and wrote about it on this thread but this new song is a different beast.

I like this a lot. A three-minute psych-rock guitar solo is p much what their music was always missing for me.

being into UFOF but not "Not" is pretty understandable since there's a deliberate stylistic shift (though it's not completely left-field or anything - "Jenni" and "Contact" are more in line with "Not" than most of the album). i think "Not" is quite catchy, i like Adrienne's vocals a lot, the way it maintains a steady groove while still constantly shifting with the background guitar and other ambience etc., the fantastic solo that takes up the entire second half - i don't understand your complaints at all. i'm also confused by your dismissal of the second half of UFOF - "Strange" is the best song on it and "Jenni" and "Terminal Paradise" are especially fantastic too

what isn't reasonable is getting all confused why everyone likes it without even listening to the whole thing lol

I thought UFOF was a big grower anyway. Capacity was very immediate, but ultimately I've learnt not to judge a BT song from the first listen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5VVK5OMMGg

one of the songs from the unlabelled single that went out recently is the title track from the new album and it's wonderful (the other is "love in mine", the japanese bonus track from UFOF)

Haven't really given them a proper chance yet, despite enjoying an odd track here and there, but this new song is incredible. Ordering U.F.O.F. as we speak and already excited for the upcoming one.

I like this a lot. A three-minute psych-rock guitar solo is p much what their music was always missing for me.

If only all of their songs were like that.

i could go on and on about any song but "strange" has that gorgeous sunlit coda

― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, May 7, 2019 9:43 PM (three months ago)

This is currently my favorite part of U.F.O.F. Pure bliss

I like Cattails and love U.F.O.F. -- one of those songs you just play on repeat all morning and then it's in your head all day.

Oddly, turns out playing Cattails ten times a day also does that

"meteor shower at the motel" is such a good encapsulation

so good

i want to make a neil young and crazy horse comparison w/this new song but it's almost unfair to Lenker and co, there's such a singular focus to this particularly with regards to her vocals that is very much her own.

an artist like this releasing music of such a high quality with such frequency is to be treasured.

If only all of their songs were like that.

― pomenitul, Wednesday, August 14, 2019

my thinking too. I like the album but thought the music could've used more spaces for a guitar to interact with Linker, who sometimes shivers beneath the shawls of her vowels too much for my taste.

The way Linker sort of retreats into herself, right in front of everyone, is the best thing about this band when they're great, and the worst thing about this band when the songs are less distinctive.

It's Lenker, isn't it? Also, are we in the army or something? Why are we calling people by their last names?

why do we call people by first names?

She's not my friend.

My phone auto corrected her last name.

My deepest apologies.

*bows*

your phone is pretty narrow-minded.

I often bitch to it about its restaurant preferences

it's just getting back at you

They're a curious band to watch (based largely on their NPR Tiny Desk concert). The drummer/bassist look like they're mates letting the other two get on with it. I've never noticed any communication between AL and the guitarist. I've been trying to decide if there is any explanation for the guitarist.

I've never noticed any communication between AL and the guitarist.

i've been dying for pitchfork to release their footage of 'not' from pitchfork last year-- lenker and meek were basically singing it to each other and it was incredible

Ah, will look out for that. I don't know them well.

This one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YhTyNnr42A

yeah, that's the performance. the pitchfork stream had multi cameras so you could see the interaction between the two

Oh, that sounds cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGD-8f8Wn5M

I like that! Stoked for the new album, they're really treating us this year.

that's wonderful

Sounds like the new one will be a lot closer to the sound of Masterpiece, which I’m happy about. Glad they aren’t leaving the rock sound behind.

Revisiting Masterpiece and Capacity, which didn't really grab me the first time. Enjoying them better this time. Maybe the 2 new tracks have helped me appreciate their rock tunes more. Still, I prefer the pure weird folk of U.F.O.F., and hope that direction isn't just a one-off.

I get the feeling they're just getting warmed up

Yeah, I'm glad this new song is more single-y sounding. I hope they keep doing both the poppier stuff and the more abstract stuff.

Sadly, the singles (and Shoulders) are the best songs on this album. The rest are just ok i guess. Nothing special, much less rock-y as anticipated by many including myself.

i'm not sure it's quite as special as UFOF and "Not" is the clear standout but i'm still enjoying it a fair bit

y’all made me think it was friday

it's out there if you look for it

just heard Not, much prefer the first half to the wig-out (surprisingly?)

another amazing record imo

It's possible it took the last two albums to prepare me for this one, but this is their masterpiece.

I get the feeling they're just getting warmed up

― frame casual (dog latin), Thursday, 3 October 2019 13:45 (one week ago) link

Lenker is only like 28 years old -- I feel like her best could very much still be yet to come.

that said I just xp'd alfred and haven't listened to the one that dropped yet

Just bought the new one and am on the last song. It's great. Not is their best song.

Just bought it too, along with Richard Dawson (it's a good day for folk-rock!). Anyway, it's jaw dropping so far

Does Lenker play lead?

no one told me there's a white guy with cornrows in this band

would you like to walk some posts back

Heard “Not” when they released it last month and liked it a lot then, but it is on fire in the context of the record.

Does Lenker play lead?

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, October 11, 2019 1:14 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

I feel like I have seen videos where she does leads -- I think the really noisy/out ones are hers, not sure about others.

I just figured something out that was bugging me... so obv very different bands, but the repetitive drum beat/bass cadence of "Not" is TOTALLY Lungfish

this album is fantastic.

picked up the "desert peach" colored vinyl and it sounds great.

Heard “Not” when they released it last month and liked it a lot then, but it is on fire in the context of the record.

― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, October 11, 2019

otm, a stunner now

picked up the "desert peach" colored vinyl and it sounds great.

― omar little, Friday, 11 October 2019 20:59 (fourteen minutes ago)

Me too from Norman Records

Ugh I’ve listened to this album three times today. The only disappointing thing is that now UFOF isn’t my favorite album of the year.

Hyperbolic day-of-release praise CHECK

new thread?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWW-eKX8uSo

great performance

I still prefer U.F.O.F., but this new one is great

I listened to this once through on the way home. It’s incredibly rich and dense and almost overwhelming at first but I immediately wanted to listen to it again and will tonight. The real jaw dropping moment for me was the end of Not follows by Wolf. I actually cried a bit.

I love the sound of the record. It’s very in the room with the band, but with a touch of hyper realty. I almost felt like they were right in front of me, which is an odd sensation while driving a car.

What a double whammy. This fucking band right now.

The chord progression on "Strange" is wild. Very rare to hear these kinds of twists and turns in indie music.

High on the list of U.F.O.F.'s numerous virtues is the brief, economical, gorgeous guitar solo that closes out "Century."

hey, that's my favorite moment on the whole album

i do not get the rapturous praise from this band, which apparently comes from all quarters

uh FOR this band

I meant to say

It's okay -- I was with you until September.

if I were to be unkind I would say the hype is based on their terrible haircuts lol - cuz I sure don't hear that much remarkable in the playing or the writing (granted the lead singer's voice has a timbre I'm not fond of). It's just weird to see what scans to me as a garden-variety indie rock band with guitars getting praised to the skies in this day and age. As opposed to someone like Kurt Vile or Courtney Barnett when once you see them play it's like "oh, right this person has guitar chops for days". Obviously I'm not hearing what other people are...

The Crazy Horse vibe they strike on occasion is pretty awesome and the songwriting isn't as pedestrian as most of their peers' ('Cattails' is compellingly unsettling). Shame about her voice, though, which ruins everything.

Shakey, when have I liked bands based on terrible hair

the songwriting isn't as pedestrian as most of their peers'

Understatement of the century, lol. The songwriting is astounding.

BT singer also has serious guitar chops

how douchey the dudes in this band look really put me off tbh. they seem pretty good from what I've heard, tho not really my thing

lol Alfred

xps

Tbf they only look douchey on 85% of the pics I've seen.

singer also has serious guitar chops

idk I just watched the clips for "Not" (upthread) and some other recent TV appearance (Kimmel) and in both the singer's just strumming a few open chords, while the other guitarist is picking arpeggios higher up the neck around a single chord shape. idgi

There are some serious fashion faux pas going on, especially the bass player and drummer, but they lean into it so hard, I just have to laugh.

musicians with bad fashion and appalling haircuts, you hate to see it

https://thefader-res.cloudinary.com/private_images/w_1440,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best/unnamed_ay8kk0/big-thief-ufof-interview-adrianne-lenker.jpg

What kind of hat is that?

he's just back from building a barn in east PA

I haven't had the opportunity yet to see them live (though tix go on sale tmrrw for a show here in August) -- but I've been absorbed in their albums for the past few weeks ,deeper than I've been absorbed in anything for a while. They're just so good... top-percentile albums. I'm astonished by the quality of the songwriting and performances.

Also, you can't judge a band by a ropey TV performance, everyone knows that!

I will concede that Adrianne's voice may be an "acquired taste" (as I'm reminded when my wife gives me a "What the f are you listening to?" look) -- but I completely forget about that, or no longer hear it, when I'm absorbed in their music.

lol the first time I put it on my wife was instinctively irritated by Lenker's voice as well and she's generally more lenient in indie rock-related matters than I am.

The voice is the strongest element imo; striking and distinctive. The instrumental music is fine but not usually mind-blowing imo so it all depends on the songs. A few really grab me, the rest I don't mind and may continue to grow on me.

High on the list of U.F.O.F.'s numerous virtues is the brief, economical, gorgeous guitar solo that closes out "Century."

― dad genes (morrisp), Tuesday, January 28, 2020 6:27 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

like the album but that solo on "jenny" reminds me of successfully tackling the guitar solo of "go your own way" on rock band 2.

Haha, I love a good one-note gtr solo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C_ax0XYn1E

fantastic footage of one of the new songs they were playing on tour

Sounds really nice. Are those fancy new custom guitars of some sort?

they both play collings iirc. high-end maker out of austin.

^when ur Casio DG-1 is in the shop

Anyway, that song -- OMG! I'm instantly obsessed. What does it remind me of(??) Some specific early-'90s hippie/granola rock touchpoint...?

Here's another good recording (different show):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bir8m4Q0yDk

holy shit, I can't believe this song... it's like the best thing you ever heard a cool older kid playing on a summer-camp mixtape when you're 12 years old

The only songs it specifically brings to mind, sound/vibe–wise, are Rush's "Time Stand Still" and Collective Soul's "December"... silly/inapt reference points as these may be.

It also has sort of a peak-R.E.M. feel (though not necessarily “sound”).

I can absolutely picture this song, appearing on a fuzzy live tape of an unsigned band, causing a total A&R frenzy circa 1991.

that rhythm section needs a podcast or a sitcom or something

Ha, I'd listen to that.

It does sound like a song I've known most of my life, something to fall back on. It's reassuringly life-affirming.

XX post. re the guitars - they've been playing those two Collings guitars almost exclusively for a few years now. Maybe some kind of endorsement. Otherwise you're talking five grand each.

that's a great song (& nice sounding guitars), i'd love to see them live, they seem to be a band better in concert than in the studio...

this band fucking rules

i don't have that much more to say. i was listening to fordham radio and heard a live version of 'masterpiece.' it just ripped