Skip to main content

ALBUM REVIEW: "The Kids Will Know It's Bullshit" by Dune Rats

   I found this to be the equivalent of getting more drunk than you planned with people you don't really like; it was kind of fun at the time, but you don't really want to do it again. I was frustratingly torn in so many ways - on one hand you have a collection of annoyingly catchy songs with great hooks, a care-free party vibe and occasionally fist-pumpingly good singalongs; on the other you have abrasively bad production, juvenile and frankly terrible lyricism and a distinct lack of musical skill to be found on the majority of the songs.
   Before you say that I've missed the point completely, I should say that for a lot of this album, it works completely. It kind of plays out like a satirical B-movie that knows exactly what it is and doesn't try to hide it's obvious shortcomings - yes, we know it's a "horror movie" about killer sharks being thrown around by tornadoes, but what the hell, it's fun! Much like Sharknado, there are parts of The Kids Will Know It's Bullshit that are undeniably fantastic. "Scott Green" has both a hook that will stay in your head for way too long and rests on one of the best plays on words you will hear in music this year, and album closer "Bullshit" is pretty awesome too. But when you stand back and look at the whole package there are things that come into immediate focus that will either be an issue or not matter to you at all. It all just depends on where you stand in your tastes and what you look for in your music.
   For me personally, as you probably might have guessed, there are a number of things that quickly become an issue for me. Like I mentioned earlier, I cannot stand the production on this album. The guitar tones make me want to cry a bit and the drums seem really flat and lifeless. Having said this, I don't mind some of the bass tones on this album at all. Similar to the way cringe-worthy dialogue in a movie like The Room is funny for a while but becomes old really fast, I just couldn't get into the lyrical content at all. I shouldn't have to explain why. I honestly struggle to get to the end in one sitting because of this. And while I know that this is kind of the point, I still inherently can't really appreciate an album that rarely ventures further than three or four power chords in 4/4 (call me a snob, I really don't care).
   There are more than a few bangers on here though, and while someone like me may not enjoy the entire album experience as much as the next person, there is plenty of playlist-filler to be found. Depending on your approach to listening to music and the context in which you're listening to this album, you'll likely either be turning it right up and cracking a tinny or rubbing your temples. Just don't ask me which one is me, I honestly couldn't tell you.

Favourite Tracks: Scott Green, Bullshit and Braindead

 Least Favourite Tracks: 6 Pack

Rating: C

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Response To 'Christian' Views On Secular Music

Is there such thing as music that Christians shouldn’t listen to? Should we be dismissive of music with either explicit language or sexual, violent or substance oriented themes? Should anyone even be telling anyone else what they can and can’t listen to? These are questions that are thrown around a lot in Christian circles, and given what I do here on this blog and how that overlaps with my job working for the church, I thought I would share my thoughts on this topic. I’ll say this at the outset so that we’re on the same page – I think any attempt to dictate what people should and shouldn’t listen to is stupid and disrespectful on a fundamental level. I’ll go into detail about why I think that later on, but for now here are some thoughts I have on some of the “Christian” opinions I come across pretty regularly. The first and most ludicrous thing that seems to follow me around is the idea that because I listen to underground genres, particularly on the heavy metal ...
2 comments
Read more

1 YEAR LATER: "22, A Million" by Bon Iver

   Bon Iver's third studio album turns 1 in about a week (where did that year go?), so I thought it would be interesting to talk a bit about how my impressions of the album have changed - or how they haven't - over the last 12 months. When this album was released I was more excited than I think I ever have been to hear a new album. For Emma, Forever Ago is one of my all time favourites, and I love his self-titled second album too, so I had huge expectations for this album, but was also wary that expectations might ruin my experience of the music. This was particularly the case for 22, A Million , because it is unlike anything else Justin Vernon has released. There have been hints at this more processed, electronic direction previously, like the song "Woods" on the Blood Bank EP and occasional flourishes on Bon Iver , but 22, A Million is a drastic departure from the Bon Iver sound we had grown accustomed to at this point in time. Or at least, that's what I thought...
Post a Comment
Read more

Should Brand New be in my top 20? (CONTENT WARNING: sexual abuse)

    For those who read both top 20 albums lists that I did - one here on thatmusicnerd and one over at Kill Your Stereo - you will have noticed, I'm sure, that one had The Ongoing Concept's album Places at number 1, and the other had Brand New's Science Fiction at the top. Full disclosure, I initially had Brand New at the top of just the one list, but the readership of Kill Your Stereo reacted very strongly against the allegations of sexual misconduct against Brand New frontman Jesse Lacey and so I removed it entirely. In fact, none of the  KYS contributors' top 20 lists featured Science Fiction at all. Of course I was happy to follow the general consensus in regards to whether or not an artist accused of such things should be promoted by a music publication, but I still stand by my opinion that Science Fiction was the best album of 2017 and as such it was number 1 on my thatmusicnerd top 20 list.    2017 has been a pretty crazy year in terms of the ...
Post a Comment
Read more