I’ve liked each individual song I’ve heard so far, but I wasn’t *loving* them the way I loved tunes from any of the past three records. But listening to the whole album as a piece, I feel like it’s clicking for me much more than it was before. Really great stuff.

I’ll throw in a third vote for “Light Pollution.”

This list > Stereogum’s list. By a lot.

“Speak Slow” and “Noises.” T&S had pop leanings well before Heartthrob.

“Death or Glory” and “Rudie Can’t Fail” or GTFO.

I’m more of James’s generation than Doug’s, but I think Doug gets the better of the discussion here because, ultimately, James’s argument boils down to, “I know it’s THIS way, but it should be THAT way!” Doug follows up with, “Great, if you have any ideas how to make it THAT way, let’s hear them!” To which James replies, “No, but I’m saying, things should be THAT way.”

As a musician, I hate that the industry is in the toilet and it’s daunting to me that bands whose career progression I’d give valuable parts of my anatomy to emulate aren’t doing well enough to afford health insurance. At the same time, the genie is out of the bottle, y’all, and it’s not going back in. What I haven’t heard, what the magic bullet really would be, is someone coming up with a way to monetize music in a world in which people aren’t willing to pay for it and can easily acquire it without doing so. Any discussion of it usually ends up with someone saying, “Well, people *should* pay for it.” Yes, I agree. But they’re not, and they won’t. They just won’t. It’s not going to happen, no matter how much we tell people it’s wrong.

I mean, put it this way: This world in which free is normal didn’t happen overnight. When the whole thing started, everyone from Metallica on down was making the argument that music shouldn’t be stolen, and the generally accepted way to purchase music was on disc. But it still happened, and to the degree at which it became the norm. So, now what?