#flotationtoywarning

This album was introduced to me by my brother around 2017 and I still listen to it every now and then. I still haven't met someone else that listened to this in real life, however now that I checked online there are a small number of opinions and reviews out about it. but not enough methinks.

The Pitchfork Article on the album gives it an okay score and I like the way they describe most the songs and where the band gets their influence from, but I feel like they don't really dive into it and appreciate the sound of it as much as I would like them to. so lets talk about it! The album starts off with the song Happy 13 which shows us the dreamy sound of this album right from the start. I really enjoy the vocals and the violins at the start which set the tone and then around 30 seconds in this synth mixed with another 10 instruments and samples just comes in blasting,

the sound and voices take you on a journey and it honestly feels like you are flying right into this album. Its a great 4 minute song that really sets the tone, if you don't like this song, I don't think you will like the rest of the album.

The album goes on to the next song which is Popstar Researching Oblivion. This song has a very nice background beat going, it sounds fun and energetic but the lyrics are so concerningly depressing it makes me think how good it was for me to listen to this when I was in middle school lol. Here is my favorite part of the song, you can just hear the creativity its amazing, the horns and the blinking sounds work so well and man, the vocals are they great.

The next song which is Losing California for Drusky, really keeps the feeling of the album going, it starts off with the classic weird lyrics and amazing instrumentals and just these different noises that you just don't hear in other music. I don't even know how to explain it. This part below might help with what I mean.

also the song switches the riff and beat around 5 minutes in and it turns into a much calmer song with almost Opera like vocals and a very light guitar riff with just these long humming synths, Please if you check this song out listen to the last half as well.

After that adventure we get to the very short and fun song Made from Tiny Boxes, which has some of my favorite bits from the whole album in it, the Lyrics are fun and the instrumental in the back is very nice and mellow and it just leads perfectly into the next song which in my opinion is a highlight of the album.

When I was looking up reviews for this album I noticed one that doesn't have the same take as I do for this next song, Donald Pleasence. The complaint the review I found said that It got old quickly and that it was too long of a song which I can understand but still I think this song even with its length does more than enough to deliver.

The song starts slowly but really heats up eventually ending with Horns and then the ending Lyrics which really give the album its kick I think. This song I would say is depressing and is very obviously about Heartache. Very well done and emotional song that in my opinion doesn't get stale.

This song then ties into the 2 parter of Fire engine on Fire. The First part starts out with some interesting vocals that echo the lyrics to come, (Big Piig, Baad Dog)

it goes for a bit with a low guitar riff and vocals but eventually the song switches up and becomes a completely different tune. a very light synth starts in the background and all the instruments slowly build on it and the whole thing turns into this perfect slow build of strings violins, keyboards and all the other noises they come up with working together. The clip I put up there and the couple minutes after it are some of my favorite parts of the whole album. The next part has a lot less lyrics but the instrumental makes up for it because the experimentation and just overall creative sound on this song really proves where this album can go.

The second half of the song slows down considerably and even has points where it goes completely silent, until right at the last minute another riff starts and a light whistle is sung over the light guitar and drums its very calming and melancholic, the whole album is.

The next song Even Fantastica is a long track that a repetitive slow guitar riff, I could see why people don't really love this one but I like it a lot. I usually hate repetitive songs but this one really calms me down and the lyrics do hit hard for me. Also the riff is just very well made and the background sounds still make the song interesting to me.

I like the distorted vocals in this bit and the dreamy background layering of 3-4 different riffs along with how the guitar eventually leads into a faux-solo that gets cut off with another round of lyrics. It just works and I really enjoy this song, I can understand why people would call it boring though.

The next song is almost like an intermission before the ending, it sounds like someone calling out of a void trying to get someone to hear him, but its just not working. Saying hello over and over and not getting an answer. It is a great lead in to the Final Song.

The Final song How the Plains Left me Flat starts out with a layered with some very weird keyboard sounds right before distorted vocals come in and jumpstart the song.

The Lyrics are followed by a guitar that really complements the flow of the vocals. I really enjoy the way he says Sunday Paper his tone of voice is perfect. after about 4 minutes of bliss in your ears you are met with a blank slate, for almost 10 minutes there is not a chirp except a small piece of noise around 9 minutes in. Whenever I relisten to this album I usually skip the ambient part honestly and I don't get why they did it in the first place BUT, just because they made a weird creative decision on the last song I wont fault them, the rest of the album is amazing.