Red Mosquito

I'm at such a different juncture of my real life and music listening life than all prior PJ releases that it's going to take time to digest and properly evaluate it. I did dig out my iPhone headphone jack dongle thing to listen - I never do that!

For kicks I asked Alexa to play PJ last night - the first three songs were Black, YL, and Better Man; then Sirens came on and my son asked "didn't we already hear this song?"

the lyrics and the delivery of the lyrics - the performance of them - are so perfectly calibrated and metered out. he reels you in slowly with that uncanny david byrne pitch "con-few-zhun iiiiiiiis." hmm okay what the fuck is this and you're lulled into this vapor world until bam "save your predictions and burn your assumptions" and you're shaken from your slumber, the reminder you needed to wake the fuck up. he's poking around at something ineffable, something fluid. the underlying question persists - what do we do to get out of this mess? he'll grab firm hold of an answer for a second POSITIVE, POSITIVE and then it slips away again in resignation when every tomorrow is the same as before.

I know the boys wanna grow
Their dicks and fix and file things

where did that come from? what a line! he manages to basically enact a new cliche about men while also giving it a line reading as good as station to station era bowie.

it is one helluva take - something really and truly divergent, but not for it's own sake. and to cap it off, stand back when the spirit comes works as a synthesis of mantra for the listener and a useful ethos for songwriting. standing back - the passive move - will save you from drowning in the river. something women understand intuitively. intuition is clearly what he followed here and it makes the vocals flow organically over the developing pieces of the song.

get out of this material world and you just might save it.

I’m so turned on right now

Two friends have texted me about the song so far.

One doesn’t like it - “stale ‘80s sound”

The other does like it - sent me the Carlton Dance gif

Just imagine what it would Have been like if RM and the pit were around when who you are dropped.

Ooof.

Strat wrote:Just imagine what it would Have been like if RM and the pit were around when who you are dropped.

Ooof.

this thought gives me a headache

evenslow wrote:the lyrics and the delivery of the lyrics - the performance of them - are so perfectly calibrated and metered out. he reels you in slowly with that uncanny david byrne pitch "con-few-zhun iiiiiiiis." hmm okay what the fuck is this and you're lulled into this vapor world until bam "save your predictions and burn your assumptions" and you're shaken from your slumber, the reminder you needed to wake the fuck up. he's poking around at something ineffable, something fluid. the underlying question persists - what do we do to get out of this mess? he'll grab firm hold of an answer for a second POSITIVE, POSITIVE and then it slips away again in resignation when every tomorrow is the same as before.

I know the boys wanna grow
Their dicks and fix and file things

where did that come from? what a line! he manages to basically enact a new cliche about men while also giving it a line reading as good as station to station era bowie.

it is one helluva take - something really and truly divergent, but not for it's own sake. and to cap it off, stand back when the spirit comes works as a synthesis of mantra for the listener and a useful ethos for songwriting. standing back - the passive move - will save you from drowning in the river. something women understand intuitively. intuition is clearly what he followed here and it makes the vocals flow organically over the developing pieces of the song.

get out of this material world and you just might save it.

PHATJ wrote:

LoathedVermin72 wrote:I think the lyrics are generally pretty terrible TBH. They seem to fall apart both structurally and poetically as the song progresses. Not a huge deal though, song is good anyway

I don’t think they are Ed’s best or most convincing in every section, but they are infinitely better than recent output. And Ed’s phrasing throughout the entire song is fantastic, almost mesmerizing. This is as good as Ed has been since Riot Act or Binaural.

Yeah, I keep finding new spots where I love his phrasing. My favorite at the moment is "And equally hard to control."

Bi_3 wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:It's a small sample but this song has prompted universal acclaim (and delighted surprise) from music fans that I know*, both personally and elsewhere on the internet. People really, really dig it.

I don't recall any song from the previous albums making a dent on these kinds of people at all.

(* People who are passionate about a wide range of music, not Pearl Jam weirdos.)

Maybe the current state of mainstream music is just so bad (you like... my hair.. gee thanks... just cut it) that anything not awful is a revelation.

That's actually a great song. She's commenting on her obsession with material possessions in a clever way. Very self aware.

I really like how percussive the "Stand back when the spirit comes...STAND BACK" sounds.

Ed sounds great on this


Told yis he was singing well

First impression -> This is garbage.
6 hours -> At least it's better than anything on Lightning Bolt
12 hours -> It's actually not bad
24 hours -> Hmmm, hopefully all of the album is in this vein

I was singing POSITIVE POOOOSITIVEEE like crazy on the bus today.

The chorus is so incredibly depressing given the current state of affairs, but also hypnotic.

Sgt. Crackpot wrote:

solat319 wrote:

bodysnatcher wrote:

liebzz wrote:Loved that review stip. always a pleasure to read your thoughts.

i'm still reading it

stip has a review of DOTC? where? I want to read it.

First post here: http://www.theskyiscrape.com/

obligatory "there's a home page?"

LikeLukin wrote:First impression -> This is garbage.
6 hours -> At least it's better than anything on Lightning Bolt
12 hours -> It's actually not bad
24 hours -> Hmmm, hopefully all of the album is in this vein

I like this post

Birds in Hell wrote:

PHATJ wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:I can't think of a Vedder lyric/performance (I can't really separate the two) combo I've liked more than this song post-Riot Act.

I might be with you. That one lyric is my grief right now.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, can be as bad as "that's the moss in the aforementioned verse".

so, so true.

After 37 listens in 34 hours, time for a break. Not even close to tired of it, just don't wanna burn it out.

My most listened to LB song has 18 plays.

mikejasond wrote:The more I listen the more Im sure that Eddie is going to kill this song's chance of success. His voice doesnt fit, and the lyrics are jarringly Eddie (which means stupid faux philsophical and way too earnest). I do enjoy it - but the two other people I showed it too who aren't diehard Pearl Jam fans both didn't. One, who's a casual Pearl Jam fan felt it was too electronic. The other, who isn't a big Pearl Jam fan but has heard a lot of their songs through me and is in general a music buff felt like it was generic new wave and selling out (that they should have gone noisier and darker instead)

"jokes on them cuz it's not for them"

Yesterday morning, at 5:30 am, I pushed play. I waited in anticipation for the vocals to kick in while the snippet we had already heard multiple times played.

Eddie really nails the groove of the song. It's refreshing to hear him wordy and mumbling. There's an urgency maybe last found on Insignificance, Save you, Green Disease or Life Wasted.

It's a song that drags you in and moves forward. There's a latent anger mixed with a nostalgic feeling.

I can't wait for the tour and the album !