I was/am a huge huge Bomb The Music Industry! fan. Vacation is already a classic album. BTMI! ended with an almost perfect album.
So now the head guy of BTMI! has a new project that features some parts of that band but is called a solo project. I always thought of Jeff as the heard and soul of Bomb but there is maybe more distinction there than I think. Or maybe it is just doing the thing where they do not have to play old songs because this is a different band. They keep referring to it as a different thing and as a solo project. But it does still feature a full band.
Here is an album that reminds me of myself. If I kept thinking about death after I turned 21. I sure did think about death a lot as a teen and college student. Not in a goth way (I was a ska fan for bonglord's sake.) Just a lot about what it would mean if I died. For Jeff I don't think that ever stopped. It has been a theme in his lyrics. That and the depression I've never had.
This is how you think about death when you're 30. When you've had the people close to you die and then see how people change the first time a close person to them dies. With that death you keep being alive. And you keep thinking about what would happen if you died. I'm glad I stopped having these conversations with myself. Though Jeff keeps having them and has had them for a lot longer than I have.
And I wouldn't call this a dour or depressing album. It is just fighting with that personal conversation the whole time. It's putting on an earnest smile while thinking about death.
It is an album that frequently makes me go "Yeah I know what you mean." This is strongest on "I'm Serious, I'm Sorry."
I really don't like "Hey Allison." I read a review about "has there ever been a song with "hey [name]" as the title?" hmm.
I like the album outside of this. As this is 2015. Make up your mind since the album is FREE. And streaming. As always the role of music reviews in 2015 is curation and analysis less than IS IT GOOD?
