Popes of Chillitown - To the Moon
Released May 15th, 2015
Arvin Bancil, Jack Ashley, Matt Conner, Tom Penn
Genre: ska / punk / dub / rap
Intro
I have absolutely no idea how to describe this band, and this album. This band is my guilty pleasure band, and my "almost" band, because this band is ALMOST everything. It's almost punk, it's almost ska, rap, dub, it's almost... everything but not quite. It's like a mix of all 4 genres into something completely different. I have no idea how to describe it, but it's fucking fantastic. This album scores high for me just because of how much energy and personality it holds. This album is more interesting than most.
Thoughts & Feelings?
This album makes me feel like my brain got stuck upside while visiting the UK, and I've found myself in this strange quirky obscure club of people that think their lives are normal.
I have a feeling this review is going to be very difficult for me to get through, because I have no idea what I'm listening to half the time, but it's so enjoyable. Rap and dub are VERY unfamiliar territory for me, but the use of it in tandem with the HEAVILY ska punk vibe is so buttery smooth. I'll say it now, this album definitely isn't for everyone.
All of these songs are basically the same thing. It's EXTREMELY hard for me to tell you what lyric / what part is from which song because they all kind of blend together into one long ramble mess. That's just the feeling, and I love it. I love the fact that I have no idea what's going on, and what song is which. That's fantastic because of how much fun this whole album is.
I'm not going to lie, due to the accent of the lead singer, 90% of the time I have absolutely NO idea what the lyrics are. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, I think it adds to the charm of this band. Furthermore, it was RIDICULOUSLY difficult to find information about this band. They are super super underground- they don't even have a Wikipedia page. This is definitely another sleeper pick for me, but DON'T sleep on this band- this album and the one after are fucking GREAT. It's another one of those albums that are so smooth and easy to listen to, you just kinda vibe to them.
Honestly, don't think too hard. Just listen and chill / relax / party / vibe / whatever the fuck you wanna do. These guys are great, their songs are fun and make you shake.
Smash or Pass?
Vamos a la Luna - Smash. This is a great opening song that puts you STRAIGHT into the pit of what this album and this band is going to be. These strange songs that are almost every genre mixed into one. This one is a good opener though and worth starting off with.
Mummy's Busy - Pass. This song is good but sounds very generic and is hard to differentiate from all the others. The opening irks me a little but other than that, it's rather plain to listen to.
Opoom - SMASH. This song gets me going straight off the hop. Such a fun loving vibe to jam out to. It hooks you in and then gives you a nice shoulder massage. SUPER fun to listen to this song.
Impatient - Smash. The intro is meh but other than that it's the same damn thing. Just groovy funky music to get you moving. This one is especially fun with the horns. I smiled so much during this fucking song. The ENDING transitions into the next song and that gets HIGH marks. I fucking LOVE when that happens.
Voluntary Execution - SMAASSHHH. I fucking LOVE this one. Immediately slaps you in the face with a fish to start the song. It's so fucking great. I especially love the lyric "shut up and do your duty", that shit is so good. Yeah this is definitely one of the best ones on the album based on how this song is hoppier than an IPA. Chorus is so jammy.
Too Much - Smash. I really enjoy the fact that this song transitions from the last one, that's great. The intro to this song is super slow but it gets better as the song goes on. This one is pretty forgettable but I still enjoy listening to it just because of how interesting it is. The lead vocalists grungy laugh at 3:10 makes me laugh an unhealthy amount.
Otherside - Smash. This one is super groovy. All of these songs seem to have a groove that just gets me moving. Super good but again, sounds just like every other song on this album- no idea which one is which. Again- this song transitions into another and it's super cool.
14 Time - Smash pretty good. I enjoy this one a lot. It's much slower than the rest of the songs but I can definitely groove with it, especially the chorus. I can't understand a single fucking word being sung but it's pretty sick. This one gets groovier as the song progresses.
Wisdom Teeth - SMASH AS FUUCCKKK. Going into this album, I knew this one was gonna be the gold medal. This song is absolutely fucking balls to walls nuts to butts the entire way. This is one of their most popular songs and it's not hard to see why. The entire time is fun and groovy as all hell. Shoutout to my sister Avery who LOVES this song.
Hey You - Pass. Hard to top the previous song. This one is alright, just kinda slow and doesn't really get me in the mood to groove. I can't really describe why I don't vibe with this song as much it's just kinda the bad part of every song sounding the same, this sounds like a lame version of all the other songs.
Every Day - Pass. Again just not super into this song. Honestly kinda lame to be honest. Just stop at Wisdom Teeth. These last two songs are generic but not in the bubbly fun way, more in like the... what is this? Way. These last two songs are the chips at the bottom of the bag that are just crumbs and broken pieces.
Conclusion
Every single song sounds identical to the last, besides a few exceptions. If that's you thing and you want to groove along to some ska punk rap dub tracks, then perfect enjoy this shit. It's absolutely insane how good this album is despite me knowing VERY little about anything going on. I recommend listening to the medal songs and get back to me.
RANK : A-
- Sharky
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