This post will be a bit longer, as I'm writing on one of my personal heroes. You can't have a conversation about the DIY scene without talking about Quote Unquote records, you can't forget to bring up Bomb the Music Industry!, and you sure as hell can't leave out Jeff fucking Rosenstock. This guy almost singlehandedly burgeoned an entire DIY pop-punk scene in New York in the early 2000s through his fierce ideology and vision. I think what Jeff wants is that everyone, truly everyone, has a good time, usually involving screaming self-deprecating lyrics about clinical depression and inebriation.
Jeff's main projects have been the Arrogant Sons of Bitches, Bomb the Music Industry!, and work under his own name. He's also worked with Andrew Jackson Jihad (now AJJ), the Bruce Lee Band and Kudrow. In his earliest projects, he leaned heavily into ska-punk and almost painfully bright pop-punk, replete with horns and shout-along choruses. What made them so likable was not only Jeff's singular bleat but the unabashed sloppiness with which projects were rolled out. He's a prolific guy, you have to say that about him. And considering the depth to which Jeff dives in the lyrics, you'd be hard-pressed to find a songwriter with more passion in attacking his shortcomings.
A main aspect of these early project was the DIY ethos: no merch, concert tickets at ten dollars or under, all ages. You can bring a sweat-stained white shirt and Jeff will spray paint BTMI! in a heart on it, but they made the music to make the music. Jeff's presence in the music industry is an amazing anomaly: he runs his own pay-what-you-want label called Quote Unquote Records, and a new one called Really Records, and makes music with his friends. As his name grew, aspects of this have faded away: he sells merch through Side One Dummy Records, and for the first time he had a budget on a record. That led to "WORRY."
Now, let's get to this new record. I have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of most of the Arrogant Sons of Bitches, and even some of Bomb the Music Industry! wears at me. Jeff's history with ska-punk and pop-punk seems to rear its head occasionally, and with a 17-song tracklist that caused some worries going in to this album. But what Jeff puts out here might be his best material ever. He takes all the self-loathing of his last record and fuses it with different genres, creating a patched-together portrait of a person overcome with, well, worry.
Jeff states in the documentary on Bomb the Music Industry! that he has trouble seeing himself making the music he was making past 30. At 34, Jeff has proved himself right and wrong: the music here is different, by all means, but he spits on "maturity" as seen traditionally by music media. This is pop-punk, indie rock, power balladry, ska-punk, hardcore punk and synth flute-led interludes all clattering around in a runtime of under 40 minutes. Jeff's incorporation of all these disparaging genres into something as beautifully cohesive and entertaining as "WORRY." is nothing short of amazing.
This record starts with a power ballad, "We Begged 2 Explode", in the style of "Beers Again Alone" from "We Cool?", beginning with a simple piano line and becoming a blown-out scream-along celebrating the horrifying and totally unstoppable passage of time. At what I assume is a new year's party, Jeff imagines his friends leaving, falling in love, then out of love. They jump around wildly to a song and Jeff states what may be the mission statement of the album: stop sneering at our joy. This song is beautiful in its own way, and may be my favorite on the project. It's a release of bottled anger that provides a catharsis that only sweaty shows with your favorite bands can provide.
He moves into what appears to be another slow track following this, but it suddenly bursts into Jeff's traditional Weezer-after-a-few-beers pop-punk with undeniable melodies and fuzzed out bass and guitars complimenting the subtle horns and Jeff's yells. It's one of many tracks under the two-minute mark here, and shows that Jeff's no-bullshit approach to songwriting keeps these songs memorable and lean. Following this is the first single from the album, "Festival Song". It describes an existential crisis at a music festival, and Jesus, if you read the lyrics, its fucking depressing. It's an expertly-written song, and the pop-punk stylings provide a wonderful contrast with the content.
"Staring Out the Window at Your Old Apartment" is a fun, synth-piano led track about getting evicted. Here, Jeff lets himself wallow in a surprisingly engaging way, as we're led through the simple melodies with his traditionally wordy lyrics. The next track, "Wave Goodnight to Me", is similar to "Festival Song" in that it uses an older pop-punk style to send its message of age and changing into our ears with sweet guitar solos and shout-along choruses. "To Be a Ghost..." begins with an acoustic guitar and simple synth lines, and may be the most uplifting song on the album. It asks the listener to not become a ghost, avoid the hate of those who want to stop you. While it's a simple message, Jeff sings it with such purpose and anger that you can't help but smile. The track takes a left turn into a jam session in the second half, complete with hand-claps and harmonized guitar solos. When Jeff comes back to the chorus, the song is a triumphant celebration of all accomplishments we've made.
The next two tracks, "Pietro, 60 Years Old" and "I Did Something Weird Last Night" begin to incorporate elements of bright, blisteringly fun indie rock. The first song acts an introduction at only thirty-eight seconds, a weird little interlude that hypes up the second song, one about long-distance relationships in college. While depressing and totally unsure of itself, the lyrics are fantastic. The melodies and rhythms on this song are equally impressive. The quickly spit out triplets leading up the chorus are performed so fucking well. It's another incredibly high point on an album filled with them.
After this song, Jeff embarks on what may be the most ambitious musical feat he's put to record. A nine-song medley, burning through over half the tracklist and tackling disparate styles and winding down on the final track. And, though same may be put off, I believe it works beautifully. It's an amazing, breathless run that proves Jeff's abilities as a songwriter.
The beginning of the medley is relatively slow, though harmonized guitar solos, xylophones, horns and voice-shredding yells on the second half make for an amazingly crafted indie rock song that ends with a beautiful buildup to the rollicking, more-punk-than-pop track "Bang on the Door". The song describes dreading the landlord, and the infectious melody and rhythm harken back to absolute best BTMI! tracks. This track lands at around a minute, and my only complaint is that there isn't more.
"Bang on the Door" transitions, seamlessly, to a track I'm sure some people are dreading: "Rainbow", an honest to God ska-punk song. The placement of this song is funny as hell, and its a surprisingly well put-together track with bitingly funny lyrics and some excellent drum and guitar work. It's tightly wound and angry, but puts a fun spin on it. The next track loses the fun spin. Jeff totally lets that anger and anxiety out on "Planet Luxury". Jeff yells at the top of his lungs at an impeccably fast pace - it's the closest Jeff has every gotten to hardcore punk, complete with a bone-rattling howl at the end.
The transition out of "Planet Luxury" is jarring, intentionally, and here Jeff crafts what is essentially "We Cool?" 2.0, which is by no means a bad thing. "Hellllhoooole" is funny, played very well, and is only one of the weakest songs on the album due to placement in the tracklist. The transition out of this track into "June 21st" is fantastic, like many others, and uses the melodies presented in the prior track to make a new, equally great track. Group harmonies and ascending musical lines paint Jeff's picture of coming out of seasonal depression very well. He jumps from this into "The Fuzz", a close-to-pop song at first with bright sequenced synths and drum machines that suddenly bursts into a painfully sad pop-punk meets indie rock tune.
The next track acts not only as a continuation of "The Fuzz" but also to "To Be a Ghost...", a move that is not only clever for linking the two "halves" of the album but also for continuing the themes of life, death, and impermanence. The song begins to rise up and up and finally explodes into the last song, "Perfect Sound Whatever". It's a simple song with repeated lines, based on shouting along to bright, celebratory chords referencing the lack of a perfect sound, anywhere. Nothing is perfect, and Jeff, as a perfectionist, struggles deeply with this. The song is not bogged down by this though, instead claiming one day we won't have to constantly apologize. It's atypically happy and a fantastic note to leave the album on as the track fades away.
This record is excellent, one of Jeff's best and sure to be one of my favorites this year. It's the sound of an excellent songwriter crafting song after song that add up to an excellent picture of not only himself, but of a group of people too scared of growing to fully commit themselves. I loved having the opportunity to see songs come from their infancy by getting to contribute gang vocals to the album, as well.
Fucking great album. Links below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7MPzv78cWs ("Wave Goodnight to Me")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ9kYqOlkq8 ("Planet Luxury")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfoCf5cQBzc ("The Making of WORRY.")
http://www.quoteunquoterecords.com/qur088.htm - "WORRY.", from Quote Unquote Records! Free download! Do it! Why not? Do it!
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