Rock and roll indie pop. Critic darlings continue their rise to the mainstream with new release on new label digs (formerly of Jagjaguwar). They started as a gothic, dynamics-heavy, rough-edge, depressing, ramshackle Austin folk band and have completed the transformation to jam-packed, glossy, middle-of-the-road, huge rock ‘n roll Brooklyn p4k favorites. Frontman Will Sheff was an English major at Macalester College and so we get pages of literary, dense text on each song. Sheff revisits the 80s and his childhood on this album, so it’s very nostalgic and hits a lot of 50s and 70s pop tropes, sounding like a twist on very familiar melodic structures. RIYL: The Hold Steady, Titus Andronicus, pitchfork, The National, vocalists like Bright Eyes.

*1. Big piano driven ballad. (4:26)
*2. Upbeat, prominent horns and backing vocals lend a soul/dance(?) feel. (3:04)
*3. FCC shit? 80s Springsteen keys/synth hook, driving pop. (6:32)
4. Twangier, wordier, bendy synth parts, handclaps. (3:40)
5. Very slow and quiet with grand vocal reaches and then picks up last minute. (5:31)
6. Ooh baby baby it’s a wild world. (3:47)
7. Catchy epic march. (3:06)
8. Synth lead, funkier, twirling, gliding, monotone-vocaled “forever young”? (4:19)
9. Lingering chords, methodic rock and roll rumble, and slow build. (5:00)
10. FCC, triumphant horns, mid-tempo melancholic tint (4:37)
11. slower, slide guitar dreamier and mellow, sad (4:58)