Dark Matter in the Dark (movie theater screening April 16th)

[zeb]

Awkward Jeff intro for the win.

This was a highlight for sure, E9.

[zeb]

Hey zeb

Hey mate!

You've picked a great time to re-engage with latter-day PJ. I really liked Gigaton but this album is a step up. I'll reserve judgement on Watt's production until I have a headphone listen, but he's managed to capture the band with everyone playing to their absolute strengths, and finally showcasing the live chemistry they have on stage on record.

In terms of performances these are the best from Matt and Mike in quite some time. Probably my most enjoyable record from Eddie in well over a decade too.

The cinema soundsystem and what I assumed was the final Dolby Atmos mix didn't present the songs in their best light imo but I'm hopeful of a better headphone experience too.

Hate to finish on a down note but I hope the visualisations they are planning for the tour are more interesting than some of the screensaver-esque ones used here. One last thing that never ceases to astround/annoy me is the band's lack of attention to detail. The visualisation for Got To Give was missing lyrics for the first half of the song, and there were a handful of typos and clear lyrical errors in other songs (which will also be present in the liner notes of the album no doubt).

Yeah, the missing lyrics in Got To Give was a very wtf moment, and there were definite word skips peppered throughout too.

[VinylGuy]

Zeb!!

[stip]

welcome back, Zeb

[B]

The answer to "will the visualizations be really repetitive?" is "yes."

I'd do this for more albums, even old ones, if it wasn't so expensive.

[epilogue]

Well that was fun as shit!

[mikejasond]

Amazing tier: Wreckage, Got to Give, Waiting for Stevie, Something Special
Still great tier: Setting Sun, Upper Hand
Good tier: react/respond, Won’t Tell,
Meh tier: dark matter, running, scared of fear

Just my opinion. Overall really liked it even if the singles and the opener did little for me. The rest was much more folky than I expected and I really enjoyed it.

[Ensign9]

song thoughts? if you were listening to the phone leaks how did they translate?

I was at a listening party Sunday so I’ve heard “official” quality. The theater quality audio tonight wasn’t outstanding (non-Atmos; needed a touch more bass) but it was much easier to make everything out without a bunch of ambient voices in the room. Lots of little details I caught tonight that I can’t wait to hear via headphones later this week.

I liked it even more on each successive listen. React, Respond was my favorite on Sunday. Tonight, it was Upper Hand, Waiting for Stevie, and Setting Sun. I’m still warming up to Wreckage. Stevie in concert is gonna make us soil ourselves.

I disagree with B on the visuals — each song had its own visualizer and was unique enough each time. Really nice touch. Modern day WinAmp.

I think the lyric subtitles must’ve been AI-designed to trigger only when Eddie sung unintelligibly. There were large chunks of a couple songs with no subtitles.

[stip]

Well that was fun as shit!

initial thoughts?

besides that one?

[Ensign9]

I took some pictures that I’ll post later.

[epilogue]

Well that was fun as shit!

initial thoughts?

besides that one?

I'll send you some more detailed thoughts tomorrow. I'm not sure I want to post much about the album here.

[Monkey_Driven]

Well that was fun as shit!

initial thoughts?

besides that one?

I'll send you some more detailed thoughts tomorrow. I'm not sure I want to post much about the album here.

Why not?

[Kanta]

Awkward Jeff intro for the win.

This was a highlight for sure, E9.

Was Jeff’s intro weirdly distorted by feedback everywhere? Or was there truly a problem in the theater I went, too? The sound quality of the music after was so horrible that I started doubting that maybe it wasn’t intentional.

[soccerman611]

got back from the screening

great album, probably their best since Avocado. i liked the album with the visualizer more than the album in the darkness because i could see the lyrics. idk what wotman did but at times its tough to hear ed in the songs.

i dont think the employees knew how the screening worked (one album playing in the dark, one album playing with a visualizer), because midway through the first playing of Won't Tell it abruptly stopped.

an employee walked in and apologized for the "technical problem" and offered us free stuff until someone told them about how it worked. they eventually started it up again at the next song, skipping the rest of Won't Tell

[WaitingForBluey]

Well that was fun as shit!

initial thoughts?

besides that one?

I'll send you some more detailed thoughts tomorrow. I'm not sure I want to post much about the album here.

Why not?

Illuminati watching him very closely

[delanoche]

Awkward Jeff intro for the win.

This was a highlight for sure, E9.

Was Jeff’s intro weirdly distorted by feedback everywhere? Or was there truly a problem in the theater I went, too? The sound quality of the music after was so horrible that I started doubting that maybe it wasn’t intentional.

Jeff's intro was echo-ey at our theater. But the sound quality of the album was great after that.

[zeb]

Zeb!!

welcome back, Zeb

Hey there, boys. Hope you enjoy the new record.

[Stickman]

Awkward Jeff intro for the win.

This was a highlight for sure, E9.

Was Jeff’s intro weirdly distorted by feedback everywhere? Or was there truly a problem in the theater I went, too? The sound quality of the music after was so horrible that I started doubting that maybe it wasn’t intentional.

Seems they just recorded the PA he was speaking from instead of using the direct feed. Odd choice.

[zeb]

Awkward Jeff intro for the win.

This was a highlight for sure, E9.

Was Jeff’s intro weirdly distorted by feedback everywhere? Or was there truly a problem in the theater I went, too? The sound quality of the music after was so horrible that I started doubting that maybe it wasn’t intentional.

Jeff's intro was echo-ey at our theater. But the sound quality of the album was great after that.

Very echo-ey, and then the playback was too quiet plus Dolby Atmos shittery after that. :/

[Bammer]

Theater was about half full. Including my neighbor who doesn’t know he’s my neighbor. Guy with the custom Ten album cover flag and dog named Riot.

Anyway, like some have said - I liked the second run through with screen and lyrics better than the first.

Very clear themes in the songs of parenthood and career finality.