Is anyone else as excited about this as I am?

For those of you who haven't heard any of it yet:

http://www.arts-crafts.ca/kevindrew/

The mp3 floating around on the blog sites "tbtf" or something like that is pretty boring if you ask me. I was disappointed.

I'll reserve judgment until I hear it, but side projects of the folks from BSS don't really appeal to me more than a BSS album proper. Apostle of Hustle's album is all sorts of okay and sometimes it hits the right spot, but really all I want is a new BSS...

Very excited, but not as excited if it would be an authentic BSS album. I'm not exactly sure why they're doing it like this where BSS presents Kevin Drew and then Brendan Canning, but whatever. I hope atleast one of the albums measure up to YFIIP or s/t. We shall see.

I agree with Hoppy that "TBTF" isn't that great of a song, but P4K posted the video for the first single, "Backed Out On The..." the other day. It's a great, rocking track with manic drumming and guest guitar solos from Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis. I'm hoping the album has more stuff in that vein.

I hate Arts & Crafts (specifically BSS) solo albums. Not because they're bad - in fact, they're usually quite good - but because, regardless of how good they are, they're still a relative disappointment compared to what BSS has achieved as a whole.

As far as I'm concerned, You Forgot It In People is a perfect album; probably one of - if not THE - best of the 2000s so far. Of course, it's reached the point where even their own albums haven't been able to reach that peak, but the solo albums still just feel as though they're lagging a bit behind the progression of the collective as a whole.

That said, I will still inevitably buy this, just as I do every A&C release. And indeed, "Backed Out On The..." does rock quite hard, although it evokes (mimics?) parts of YFIIP a bit to readily for me.

This album, which comes out this coming Tuesday, is streaming here.

I'm only on track two at the moment

i've just had my first run through of the album, and on first listen, i think it's alright. almost like broken social scene lite. i don't think it matches up to YFIP or the self-titled album. there are a few standouts, though. i think "farewell to the pressure kids," "frightening lives," and "back out on the..." are great tracks.

Outside of a few tracks, I'm not big on it either. The production is really sloppy too. Give me a couple hundred bucks and a trip to Guitar Center and I could've produced a better sounding record.

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:
Give me a couple hundred bucks and a trip to Guitar Center and I could've produced a better sounding record.

I am writing a check and it is being mailed as we speak, just wait a few days before attempting to cash it.

"Lucky Ones" is a pretty great song.

I've given the album a couple listens, and I think it certainly rivals the self-titled BSS album. However, it doesn't touch You Forgot It in People. There is more of Broken Social Scene in this album than any other A&C solo release. Also, I think the production is supposed to sound kinda sloppy, and that's what Drew was going for.

i just think the album almost sounds like the b-sides of BSS's albums. it's not just that the songs not as strong as the songs on BSS's albums, it's that the more experimental songs/parts on this album don't succeed as much as BSS's more experimental songs. also, i understand that the production was probably meant to sound a little more lo-fi, but that's a route that doesn't suit drew (or BSS for that matter) as well. i said the same thing about caribou's new album.

I'm starting to come around on this album. Much like the The National's Boxer (although not as well), this album takes a while to grow on you. There really isn't anything immediately catchy after the first few minutes of "Farewell to the Pressure Kids". But moments like the chorus on "Safety Bricks",the sing along on "Lucky Ones", and even the panoply of instrumentation found in the rhythmic "Boddhi Sappy" Weekend. I'm even finding "tbtf" romanticaly seductive in its own way.

And then of course, J Mascis' squeeling guitar on the heady rocker "Back Out the..." is the climax of the album.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Vypa,

I'll say it right now:

Apostle of Hustle's "National Anthem of Nowhere" was a much better BSS side project album that was released this year.

Even still, it probably won't show up on my top 20. Maybe they've only got the mojo when they work together?