you know what? i'm really happy with my review of this album, and it echoes my sentiment even now, and it's why the album won this award over other 5/5s this year. it isn't just that it's great, it Represents something, possibly even unwillingly, and that helps to elevate it. so here you go, i'm reposting this review from my music blog / RYM.
"bro.... just have a seat wherever. get comfortable.
look, i know this is a difficult conversation to have. i know you want to believe you are Cool. that you fit in with the Cool Kids. and the Cool Kids told you that this album Sucked Hard. they want you to listen to these other bands, or this droney djent album Chad found at the record shop, or 1 hour of deconstructive and transgressive hyperpop.
and yeah, i know that i am no longer one of the Cool Kids. i'm almost fuckin' 40. even when i was With It, i was playing stuff people didn't like, or made fun of. while people were raving about Swedish House Mafia, i was talking about how much Knife Party was doing. i was always forging my own path, and finding cool stuff two or three years before people would think it was Cool. or at least, cool enough to admit.
my point in all this? those Cool Kids? all posers. maybe they listen to radio pop music. maybe they don't ACTUALLY like the awfully-mastered deconstructed club shit we get so often. maybe they have an alt account on Spotify with all their guilty pleasures on it. but most importantly, those Cool Kids say they don't like something if enough popular people say they don't like something.
and i'm not saying they like this album! look, this isn't always great music, from a pure listening standpoint. yeah, it gets cringy at times for sure. but that's not what's important here. even if they, deep down in the subcockles of their hearts, think this album is worse than Blood on the Dance Floor and Tom MacDonald put together. they are SO HAPPY to tell you about that. because liking this album is Uncool. that has already been determined by the Cool Kid Elders.
let me tell you something. look me in the eyes. this album is important. because SO MANY POSERS are chomping at the bit to tell you this album is Not Cool, that Sleep Token was Never Cool, that there's some other band that does not do what Sleep Token is trying to do that you should listen to instead. they cannot WAIT to tell you that this is Bad, Actually. that the only way to be Cool is to scoff at this album's very cover, make a snarky remark, and move on to whatever act Pitchfork gave an 8.4/10 to.
listen to this album. make your own opinions. decide for yourself what you think. really dig into the mix of genres here. see if Vessel's vocal style resounds with you, or if it's not your thing. give actual mental space to the trap beats and meditate on not only how they work, but why their very presence pisses so many people off.
because i'll tell you. look at me. i am, above all else, a Poser. this is me coming clean to you. we all are! we all want to come across as cooler than we are, as more knowledgeable than we are. i am just like anyone else. i want to be seen as someone with Important And Worthy Opinions. even if i was never Cool, i'll still Pose like i am.
and i goddamn love. everything. about this album."
