I just don't get what makes this album one of the pillars of post-punk.
Except for few tracks (Sleep, Makeshift Swahilli, (eventually) Paper Hats and A new Kind of Water), most of the album seems to be self-indulgent, unfocused and going nowhere.
The most annoying thing on the album are definitely the lyrics. Even though they are aiming for strong political message not unlike Gang of Four, message is not even remotely consistent or clear. Lyrics are filled with quotes and empty phrases.
Also there is an almost complete lack of any sort of melodic content on the album. Which wouldn't in itself be a problem, if the strong rhythmic structure wasn't lacking too. They appear to flirt with polyrhythms and strange signatures but they don't produce any even remotely interesting results.
TL;DR: it looks to me like a pile of pseudo-intellectual bullshit to be honest.
>Except for few tracks (...) most of the album seems to be self-indulgent, unfocused and going nowhere.
You just described most albums people namedrop and respond "my nigga" on Sup Forums's "daily" /rym/ and /chart/ threads.
Luke Murphy
t. nu-male
Noah Rogers
It won't click until you have experienced actual fear that the world will end in a large nuclear slaughter soon. Luckily enough I paid attention to Hillary's Syria plans so it clicked pretty easy for me.
Hudson Miller
you gotta let grow on you dude
first listen, the whole album went over my head
i'd say parts of this are vaguely self-indulgent thanks to Charles Hayward's prog/avant-garde leanings but I'd suggest listening to their s/t and the follow up EP, Health and Efficiency before coming back to this
this album is their soundtrack to the end of the world and by god, it sounds like it - fear and all. Their emotions on this record are genuine and I don't see how they're trying to be intellectual in anyway.
Brandon Flores
True, there is a lot of that shit on Sup Forums Problem is that this album is also favoured by critics (read Pitchfork), but in this case they seem to be as pseudo-intellectual as the artist (what a surprise considering it's Pitchfork)
Please clarify mate, why am I exactly nu-male?
Being from a country that suffered several wars during the 90's and being bombed for months at that time I believe I can say I've experienced similiar atmosphere. Still it doesn't click. And your argument doesn't click either to be fair.
>I don't see how they're trying to be intellectual in anyway Prog tendencies, random latin declinations out of context, reading declaration of independence for no apparent reason...
Jonathan Walker
But thanks anyway, I will give it another try after I've listened to their first album, maybe it will grow on me, but I doubt it
Aiden Cruz
>but in this case they seem to be as pseudo-intellectual as the artist
Problem is is that most don't bother making music. Myself included I suppose.
Bentley Morris
They read the Declaration of Independence because they're saying that we need to rise up and destroy the current order because it's gonna get us all killed but I wouldn't expect a dirty S*rbshit to understand that
Cameron Russell
Nice argument mate, 8/8.
Ayden Russell
When confused or in doubt resort to reading second party analysis.
The declaration's inclusion, along with the latin segments, are a byproduct of the album's concept in which the whole world is essentially going to shit, the band is aware of this and all hell breaks loose culminating in a nuclear holocaust - "Suffer Bomb Disease". That's just my take on it and the concept itself is incredibly loose.
Now, the prog tendencies were always a part of This Heat and its successor Camberwell Now. The s/t is far much heavier on these tendencies and you can hear bits and pieces of where math rock got its start (Horizontal Hold).
The thing that puts Deceit over its predecessor though is its dub influence and its emphasis on rhythms without compromising anything else in particular.
Lincoln Peterson
Most of the politics on this album concern war and the fear of the possibility of nuclear warfare in the near future
Nathaniel Bennett
I figure the S.P.Q.R. was aiming at analogy of decay and fall of rome with decay and fall of the modern (Cold War era) world.
And I get the concept, still, it just doesn't do it for me. >dub influence and its emphasis on rhythms I just don't feel this strong enough to for it to redeem the rest.
Parker Cruz
It's about american imperialism.
Matthew Fisher
to be honest, dub influences in punk are hit or miss
I absolutely love This Heat and The Pop Group, but the dub stuff irks me when I'm not in the mood.
Gabriel Ward
Well this is a radical take on the albums concept and meaning. *irony*
David Gutierrez
I like their self-titled much more
Chase Fisher
Actually I really like The Pop Group. Also stuff like some of the Pere Ubu's work. Dub just works there as a part of the greater whole.
I find The Pop Group tended to put their best stuff out as non-album singles, Where there's a Will being an example (if we ignore She's Beyond Good and Evil).
Y and Mass Murder are great records but Y is a bit of a pain to get through while Mass Murder goes all out in its dub grooves and is just barely 30 minutes to Y's 40 minutes and half of it being overly tedious imo.
Pere Ubu on the other hand, their first three are magnificent but other than that, I still need to go through their albums when I have a chance.
Noah Hill
>Lyrics are filled with quotes and empty phrases. What do their tunes signify? What is their meaning? Are they really that straight forward? Or are our ears beyond words?
Adam Harris
At the risk of sounding spiteful: what tunes?
Wyatt Collins
Nobody can "musicsplain" music to you to get you to like it. You either like it or you don't. In this case, you're either a patrician who gets it or a pleb who doesn't.
Oh, oh, you're not too cool.
Jeremiah Gray
>Pere Ubu Yes, there is really too much, was talking about the first two mostly actually.
As for The Pop Group, it's true, some songs are too drawn out, but I don't think that hurts albums too much. Good parts are worth the bad ones, and the bad ones aren't that bad anyway.
Jaxson Howard
I mean in general, Pere Ubu's (and The Dead Boys') predecessor Rocket from the Tombs accomplished far more in its short existence than Ubu and the Boys ever did, which is no mean feat.
Luis Miller
>one of the pillars of post-punk honestly with This Heat don't approach it with this in mind, calling This Heat post-punk isn't inaccurate but to think only that is like calling Kraftwerk simply an electronic band or something.