First listening to tracks from this album back in 2016 I never really thought I'd revisit it and listen to the rest. But here we are and I'm so glad it did. I'm not really sure why I didn't listen to the rest of the album at the time, I don't think I quite appreciated albums yet.
All the way back in 2016 my friend and I made a playlist of our favourite “indie” songs. I had heard this track in one of Spotify's genre playlists. The song was firmly in my song rotation for about 3 months before I moved on to other things. At the time I couldn't have told you where or what I'd be today. Little did I know I'd end up writing about the song and its album on my own music blog. I think this track was the first time I'd really strayed outside of the top 40, leaned into what is now probably my main genre of music
After reading pitchforks’ top 200 albums of the past 25 years I noticed Teens of Denial very high up there. Up until this point, I'd still only listened to 3 songs from the album and hadn't even actively listened to them for some time. Already knowing Fill in the blanks I skipped straight to Vincent. Greeted by the most suspenseful openings, I was sucked in. I love a long song, 3:20 just isn't enough for me. Nearly a full 8 minutes I was in heaven. For me, the song narrates the story of an extroverted introvert. That's how I'd described myself. We go to all these parties yet it is painful to be there. It's this weird higher level FOMO, not just that you're missing out but the whole world will end if I'm not there. This track captures the pure internal chaos you feel and you're pushed around a dance floor longing for nothing but your bed.
This is another of the tracks I've listened to since 2016. This one never really left my everyday listening, cropping up on several playlists over the years (I hate saying years, it literally feels like yesterday listening to this for the first time). I don't know exactly what lead me to this point, currently, life is chaos. The past few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind and I want nothing more than to go home to my mother (I'm actually on the plane home at the time of writing this).
“What happened to that chubby little kid who smiled so much and loved The Beach Boys? What happened is I killed that fucker and I took his name and I got new glasses”. I wish nothing more than to go back 2 years and start again (regardless of the pandemic lol). I think I've lost a lot of qualities I really used to like about myself. I'm working on it, maybe just coping with it. “Hippie powers” have certainly been with me on the journey, not sure if they've helped or hindered but here we are.
This is one of the many songs I show people when they ask what kind of music I like (I'd show you 101 if you gave me the time, no one does hence this blog). Drunk Drivers captures the chaotic melancholy that goes on inside my head. Only intensified by a night of drinking. I've done some questionable things while drunk (never any drunk driving thankfully). But still, I don't know why I do it week after week. “And it left you feeling empty as a car coasting downhill. I have become such a negative person” I just feel completely and utterly drained at the moment, I feel nowhere near as depressed as last summer but my lust for life is firmly still absent.
Arguably the best song on the album. Yeah, it does go on for 11:30 but still... beautiful. The song described the tale of Costa Concordia a cruise ship that ran aground in 2012 just after setting off. It makes the comparison between it and struggling to get a good start in adult life. That’s maybe why it resonates with me, my first post-teen year was a bit of a mess. “I stay up late every night, Out of some general protest. But with no one to tell you to come to bed, It’s not really a contest”, trying to control the things we can such as sleep is something we all do. But without the consequence of childhood, we’re only harming ourselves. How we are supposed to know how to do all these very adult things when no one has ever really shown us how. The first part of the song descends into chaos as the narrator gives up. Before that starts there's is little Dido, White flag interpolation. An instrumental break follows that too falls into disarray before the final surrender to adult life. Honestly listen to the lyrics of this one, there's something relatable for everyone.
Overall it's an amazing album that I'm sad a found a few years after first listening to the singles. 2016 me needed my mantra of listening to albums in full. The album narrates the disarray of everyday life and having responsibilities we don't always want.
enjoy x
