the objectively coolest waterslide
My initial reaction to the new Polyphonic Spree album was disappointment. I could see why critics saw it as a step forward. The arrangements are no longer afraid not to use every instrument at once. The song structure is less repetitive, too, and builds elegantly on the melodies laid down on their first album. The group proves that it's not only capable of sounding like 25 people but also, when it serves the music, like 3.
But Together We're Heavy just didn't quite work for me the way the first album had. I expected that my second listen -- this time through headphones, to better pretend the voices were coming from my head -- would make things click. But still, no dice.
Catherine has never been swayed by the PS. I tried telling her that she just needed to get less sleep and switch to a protein-free, sugar-based diet in order to better surrender her will, but she wouldn't listen. For her, the first album's charms seem to be pretty elusive; for me they were closer to ineffable. But I think I've pinned down the essential difference between the last album and this one: the first album was designed to make you happy; this one just wants to keep you happy.
When I say "happy", I don't mean "satisfied". I mean in a state of dizzy, rapturous mania. "Hey / It's the sun / And it makes me shine". Altogether now, musical-theater/ecstatic-religious-movement style. Repeat until it's somehow shifted from ridiculous to profound. It's "toy boat" in reverse. Before you know it you'll be shocked to find yourself wandering the streets in your bathrobe, with a bad nosebleed, a beatific grin, and a lot of uncomfortable onlookers.
The second album can't quite pull the same trick. "The trees wanna grow / grow, grow, grow"? C'mon. That isn't gonna make anyone suddenly realize that they're Jesus!
Maybe it just took some pleasant weather to make me ready for the second album. After revisiting their debut, I'm ready to admit that its repetition limits its replayability. The new disc seems unlikely to suffer from this problem -- themes are introduced, played with, then rightfully discarded within a few verses' time. There' nothing here as catchy as "Soldier Girl" or as immediately engrossing as the intro to "Light & Day", but distinct guitar and piano parts seem like adequate compensation. And some tracks -- "Section 19 (When the Fool Becomes King)" in particular -- have as many musical ideas in them as the entire previous album.
Overall, the critics are right -- this album builds nicely on what came before it: echoing, refining, and expanding the themes and capabilities of the group. Tim DeLaughter isn't looking quite as much like a pop messiah as he did before, but maybe that's for the best. A tense standoff with the ATF no longer seems inevitable. And -- let's be brutally honest -- you've got to be pretty fucking sick of all the cult jokes. If you weren't before, surely this post has pushed you over the edge. You should still get the album.
The Spree will be coming to DC on August 16. Anyone interested in going, please let me know -- I'll be buying tickets this weekend, and if we get em as a block we can at least save a little on the "convenience" fees. Face value is $18 -- surely the spectacle of 25 folks in white robes on the 9:30 club stage is worth at least that much.
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tommy there was not one god damned mention of any waterslides in that whole fucking post dammit
sorry. it's a lyric from the album ("it's the coolest waterslide") which is getting mocked in a lot of reviews. I couldn't come up with anything when it was time for a title.
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