People

3/10. You say this is Cake-adjacent because of the monotone delivery and clever lyrics. I say it's cake-adjacent because it's kinda ass. We are not the same. You know, when I listen to user submitted albums, I try to be a bit more generous with my ratings, because it's probably a special album for someone, even if it isn't spectacular. Hell, I submitted Cleopatra, who am I to criticize submitting 2010s music near indistinguishable from a million other artists in the 2010s? But this album is sitting at a higher global rating than Exile in fucking Guyville, and y'all are sitting here and saying this is a 5-star album because the lyrics are clever? Really, cleverer than Liz fucking Phair? Cleverer, for that matter, than Tom Waits? Yeah, I guess if all you care is rhyming really big words and other erudite posturing then these guys do outstrip them, and unusual music probably draws more staunch haters than nothingburger indie music, and I know that there's probably some sort of skew for user submitted album ratings because the people who finish are not a representative sample, but I am not about to let calm reason get in the way of being mad! Look, I'm not saying this album didn't have its moments, but I'm generally a total sucker for stuff that prioritizes clever lyrics over good musicianship, I had my Bo Burnham phase, I giggle at a convoluted slant rhymes, I enjoyed 69 love songs even when I was 2 hours deep and had an hour to go, and this is where I draw the line. The stuff these folks say is might be clever, but it largely fails to sound like lyrics, and not just because they refuse to sing, though that certainly draws attention to the issue, but because they have no respect for the meter! They seem to think that writing a song starts with a standup routine, and ends with sticking some rhymes in at semi-regular intervals. You know what, I'm knocking another point off simply because this album got me mad enough to waste my time writing this whole god-forsaken comment putting down some indie band that is doing a perfectly fine job at making indie music for a niche that I am half surprised doesn't include me.

Very strange, it's like a wordy troubadour with retro rhythms, a hint of Costello...it becomes tiring like listening to singers in a church.

I get that Whedon Voice hadn't yet worn people down in 2013, but this is insufferable in 2025. Lyrics are clumsy and trying too hard for "colloquial," and the vocalist can't pull off the Cake thing he's aiming for. Honestly after checking the wikipedia for the band, "Trying Too Hard" is just kind of the issue in general. I like Trying Too Hard bands when they're applying that effort to the sound production & musicianship, but Mathias Kom's whole deal seems to be an overeducation in the *social* production of music, and the end result comes across like something like The Oatmeal, or any of those other comics that wants very badly to be relatable, so that you'll share it with your facebook friends (in 2013). More SEO than any kind of artistic statement. And apparently a lot of people like that kind of thing! I find it offputting.

I regret having ears.

Fun