#cceu

The opening track, Jack Of All, plays like an instant classic. The riffs are crisp and clear as they poke fun at both their newfound fame and rural roots. I’m climbing up the walls / You just don’t have the balls / I’m never gonna fall / ‘cause I’m the Jack of All. The second song, If I Object (Objectify), is all noise, with hardly even a second to breathe before the wailing cries at the end. The words if I object melt into the word objectify, closing out the song in a soaring scream.

Hit The Nail Out Of The Park is a thoughtful examination of American boyhood, without shying away from how ugly growing up can be. The tempo may be slower but the track has a grit to it that can’t be ignored. Six Feet Under continues to wow audiences as the lead single, comparing the slow death of a relationship to being buried alive. Daisies sprout overhead / In the thick of goodbye / Now it’s just me in a flowerbed / Eternally wondering why.

In the second half of the album, Necrotizing Facist Idol isn’t afraid to punch up with hard hits or make a political statement. The message is pretty clear in the chorus: He’s eaten away at too much of our lives / He’s going to pay for his sins when he dies / No time to wait / Let’s amputate / The necrotizing fascist idol. 24hr lobotomy is more of an internal struggle of self destructive tendencies, and the desire to numb any feeling at all—and ultimately crashing down to earth when the vices wear off.

The album begins with hard hitting lyrics about the frustrations of repeating the same struggles day in and day out in Sisyphus. Leading into Freak, which angrily harps on societal fears of the unfamiliar. Divide Divide is a heartbreakingly romantic departure from that—Munson sings about unrequited love while likening the object of his affection to seraphim, wailing “I realize on my ascent / That your love was heaven sent / I won’t be the one you choose / You were never mine to lose.”

Feather/Board is the first experimental track of the album, with an emphasis on drums and the guitar cutting out intermittently. Tackling the concept of one sided promises, Broken Pinky explores the hurt of betrayal. Vulture’s Lament is likely to be a cult favorite, a hidden gem tucked in the middle with a more theatrical lilt to the lyrics and vocal style laced with tongue-in-cheek humor, with lines like “They say beggars can’t be choosers / Sanity’s the price you pay / Here, the winners are the losers / In this buffet of decay.”

Opening the second half, Corpse Masterpiece blows you away with a wall of sound, pushing the Dorian Grey-esque concept of artistic immortality and how your image can warp over time. Metamorphasize addresses the masks we put on to fit one place or another, with the most impressive guitar solo yet. Sweetheart somehow brings it all back to earth without losing any momentum, subverting your definition of sweetness and love itself. “When I crack open my chest / You occupy my ribcage / Sweetheart, you’re not like the rest / You’ve made your mark upon my page.”