Popes of Chillitown - Work Hard, Play Hard, See You in the Graveyard
Released May 4th, 2018
Arvin Bancil, Jack Ashley, Matt Conner, Tom Penn
Genre: ska / punk / dub / rap
Intro
Here we fucking go again boys. I fucking love this album, probably more than the other Popes of Chillitown album I reviewed. Every song on here is super generic and bouncy and poppy, but that's my bag, baby. I can't tell the difference between most of these songs, but it works so well. This is the exact contrast between The Virginamary's King of Conflict that I did the other day, where all those songs are pretty generic and boring- these songs are super generic and similar but they're AWESOME. It's like one long ass big fun song. I enjoy that shit, if you do to then here we go baby let's get into it.
Thoughts & Feelings?
This album makes me feel like I'm receiving a warm hug. No one is hugging me, but the music is wrapping itself around me for a nice long warm hug. This is one of those albums that I listen to when I'm going through shit to let me know that everything's gonna be alright.
This album kicks ass. I prefer this one over To The Moon, just because there are a few more songs in here that are different- in a good way. These songs are like the upgraded versions of the songs on the last album. They're just so fucking FUN. I have fun every time I listen to this album. This album blows by in minutes for me just because of how much fun I have.
I BEG you, please give this album a chance. I absolutely love these songs, and I absolutely love this band. They are a bit confusing at first but once you open your mind to having fun and jumping around, you'll love this shit. I don't really know if this band is gonna come out with another album- but god I fucking hope so. These guys are so fucking underrated it's god damn criminal.
Smash or Pass?
Prang - SMASH. Shoutout to Back to the Future babyyyy. Starting off on the right foot. Here we go. This is exactly what this album is gonna be- bouncy, poppy, and ska. Strap in cause this song is perfect for what we're about to listen to. Almost punk rock ska dub, whatever fucking genre in the book throw it straight. My favourite part is when the feedback starts and you hear all these fucking office sounds and shit, it's AWESOME.
Get Off / Get On - SMASH. FUCKING YEAH HORN(y). I fucking love the horns in this song. This song is so awesome and kicks ass. I can never remember this song until literally a second after it starts. I remember this one so well as soon as it starts playing. This song is so fucking jumpy it's great. AAAAAAA. THAT FUCKING BREAKDOWN BABY SO GOOOOD.
Vexed - SMASH. This song has some VERY questionable lyrics, but whatever I fuck with this shit. I love everything. The guitar is so sexy, the bass is so bass-y, the singing is so... sing-y? I have NO fucking idea what this song is about, and I don't really give a fuck it's catchy as hell.
No Manners in Ireland - SMAAASSHHH. This is honestly one of my favourite fucking songs on this album. This one I know by heart just because of how many times I've listened to it. This song is so weird and you probably won't like it, but I fucking LOVE it. It's so weird and catchy. Especially at the fucking end where it breaks down only to build up again with the "Now I'm not scared anymore: I know I'm lying to myself", HOLY SHIT. That part gets me fucking HYPED.
Graveyard - Smash. This doesn't really COUNT as a song to be honest, this is like a weird ass transition song. This is such a silly stupid song but it gets me grooving.
Upside Down - SMMAAAASSHHHH HARD AS FUCKKK BAABBYYYY. This is easily the best song on the album. It's so upbeat and fast paced, I especially fucking love the chorus and singing it is some of the most fun I've ever had. I fucking love the singing in this one especially just because of how fast it goes. SUPER good. The singer is so fucking cheeky I love it.
The Last Elephant - SMASH. I especially love the ending of this song. I had the fucking lyric stuck in my head for forEVER and couldn't remember what song it came from. I finally found it at the end of this song "Work hard, play hard, see you in the graveyard". Such a cheeky line. Anyway the rest of the song- it's as you expect. Ska punk up beat and groovy as fuck. The chorus especially gets stuck in my head all the time. LMAO that dubby part past the midway part is so funny to me. MAN that guitar part afterwards is so neat in my opinion. POP OFF KING.
Mr. Piotr - Smash. This one is pretty generic honestly. The guitar feels like an overused chord progression but that's fine it's still a fun song to jam to. I just don't think there's anything unique about this one for me to point out and feel special about. I still enjoy listening to this song but there's nothing I can pick out.
What a Guy - Smash. This one starts off pretty ominous and slow which is a neat change. Not that I'm super into it but I really like when it picks up and he starts spamming the word "cunt", I find that really funny. I really like that this one switches up the formula. Yeah this song is great. I especially love when they pause during the "oh oh" part later in the song, that gives me a cheeky smile. LMAO and what the hell was that alien voice? Hilarious and silly, fucking love it. It's quirky little nuances that I appreciate in songs like these. These guys are just having fun. Also this song completely changes midway through, pretty fucking neat if you ask me.
Inner Peace - SMASH. Yo this song sounds awesome. The intro to this song is super interesting to me. This one kind of falls apart for me when it starts to go heavy, that throws me off because it's like it butts in at the wrong time. I do like the re-intro using more distortion though, that's fucking badass. I don't really like the breakdown on this one unfortunately, but I do like the "hurry up and push the button" part.
Take Control - SMAASSHH. I really like this one. I fucking love when this one starts going, it's super catchy and the chorus gets stuck in my head all the time. This one feels much more like a punk rock song, with elements of ska thrown in. I fucking love that. GOD this song is exactly why I fucking love this band it's so great. "Excuse me while I dig a bigger hole." MWAH, love that part.
Lego Prisoners - Smash. This one is kinda neat but I don't really jive with it too well. Probably because it's not as up beat and high tempo as the other songs. This one starts off super slow and I can't remember anything about it. This one kind of sounds like some sort of funky elevator music to me. I can't even remember if there's any lyrics to this song. There is, but I'm not super into them. This is probably the most forgettable song on the album but I still enjoy parts of it.
Culpa - Smash. Another pretty forgettable song on this album, but I really enjoy the vocals and lyrics on this one. This one is super slow. I can't remember anything on this song. I was going to give this album an A, but these last 2 songs bring me down so I gotta go with the same rank as the last Popes of Chillitown album. Though I do like the monkey part of this song. That's funny lol.
Conclusion
This album is amazing. I think it's excellent, and I think this band deserves more recognition than they get. It's incredibly hard for me to understand how Upside Down has under 1 million plays on Spotify. I think this band is so fun, jumpy, poppy, and the perfect mix of punk and ska. This album is great, and I highly recommend it.
RANK: A-
What do you guys think? Did you give this album a listen yet? No? WHY NOT? Go listen to it and get back to me with what you think in the comments. Thanks a lot guys, enjoy your Saturday! :)
- Sharky
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