Album of the Week: Let It Grow EP

Unwritten rules, it seems, are made to be broken. I've never explicitly stated on this blog that EPs are not allowed to be picked. I've told people individually, but the rules of what you can and cannot pick for the Album of the Week have never really been formalized. So when Sunny sent me an email with his pick for this week, and I saw that it was an EP, I let it go, mostly because I never said it couldn't be an EP. Additionally, Sunny writes a review every fucking week, and also in his email he had filled out the entire blurb you'll find below. In other words, Sunny fucking commits to Record Club, so I'm going to tell him "NO" way fewer times than I would other people.

That being said, we probably should formalize some rules for the album choosing in the future. Let's stipulate that all future Albums of the Week should be a studio album (1), and LP (2), between 20 and 80 minutes (3), should readily be available on streaming (4), and can't have been written about already on this blog (either for Record Club, The Albums That Matter, or about half of the Song of the Week columns) (5), and no soundtracks (6). Exceptions, of course, will be made on a case-by-case basis (e.g. last week's Body Talk Pt. 1 is known as an EP to some parties, though it's officially a "mini LP"; The Order of Nature is not a studio album, it's a live album, but it featured enough original material that I allowed it; the EP selections around the holidays).

For now, though, enjoy this EP, and let me know if you want to write about it for Friday, amidst the trials and turmoil of today's ongoing pandemic saga. Archives to the right, playlist HERE, and the new album below. Sorry for the long intro (is anyone still reading this or did you skip down already?).

WEEK 60 — March 22-28, 2020

What we're listening to this week (Sunny's pick):

ALBUM: Let It Grow EP

ARTIST: Mountain Brews

RELEASED: January 30, 2020

WHAT GENRE IS THIS: Grateful Dead-esque folk acoustic

WHY SUNNY PICKED IT: "There's this internet radio show (not a p*****t, I know how the blog feels about the p-word) called Time Crisis, hosted by Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend and his friend Jake. Among other things they chat about music, Doritos, and Bernie Sanders. Anyway, last year Jake made a half-joke band and released their self-titled EP, which I unironically enjoy. Earlier this year, Jake quietly released a second EP. They played one of the songs on the show, enough for me to want to listen to the rest of the album but not yet get around to it. So here we are. Plus it's short."

TRACKLIST:

1. Let It Grow
2. Sweet Chili Heat
3. It's My Masterpiece
4. The Dead Don't Count

LENGTH: 14:31

READING SOME SHIT: "I mean, it's just some dude's dive bar band, so here's a blog post about the first album." [Editor's note: You could've linked to the fucking podcast, I would've kept my mouth shut.]

Happy listening, fam! Have a great quarantine!