Hello Exile, Sunny

As told to Puke on Your Birthday on 1/15/22, approximately 9:30 AM, at Ray's Happy Birthday Bar.

SUNNY: Part of the problem with this thing is usually I have all week to figure out what I'm going to say. For this, I just have to rip it and grip it I guess. It's just about getting words on the page.

We've talked about this before—I know I shouldn't go in with a preconceived notion. I shouldn't have read your reviews. But something about Brian's little mini-rant got in my craw. I was worried that I was going to open up this album and think "This is all wrong." Luckily, that didn't happen.

I had a nice time. A very nice time. And yeah, it did feel like being sixteen again. The opening track, "America (You're Freaking Me Out)"—loved that.

I was at Joe's place for New Year's and I heard LCD Soundsystem playing at one point. They have that song "New York, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down." Love that song, love the concept altogether. I've thought about the idea of the use of the word "but" there. "I love you... but..." It's the concept that you shouldn't use that word, "but," when describing either New York, or the whole country like the Menzingers do. These guys are talking about Philadelphia, though, for the most part, and with more explicit messages. So, great opening.

The stick that was stuck in the gears, regarding Brian's review and how it felt to be sixteen again, kind of got broken by the gears—I kind of went to Joe's side, thinking, "You know what? I'd love to be sixteen again." And it's not lost on me that we're going to be talking about a book later on that glorifies a movies that glorifies being sixteen. I was bought in.

Generally, I like the fast riffs, the fast guitars. The timbre of the lead singer sometimes gets lost in the guitars themselves. Half the lyrics, I didn't know what they were talking about. It's like a Where's Waldo thing—I know he's in there! But I can't make him out!

It's a nice album. Compare it to... we did Harry Styles this week, right? That feels "of the time," in the sense that feels like it's being produced in 2020, '21, '22—it's pop music, perfected. So smooth. There's no edges anywhere. Between the dude being a really good singer, excellent producers, whatever. Whereas this is the rawness of 2019—"this fucking sucks, and I don't know what to do about it, but I gotta gut it out."

The standout track—I don't mean that this is necessarily my favorite track or least favorite track, just standout—it's halfway through the album, it slows down a lot. It's five minutes long. "I Can't Stop Drinking." I think for every album like this, you're allowed one slow ode to alcoholism. They did a nice job with it. I like this song almost as a palate cleanser than anything else.

JOE: Did you catch the line? "Getting cheap-beer drunk at a bar off of Passyunk." Definitely referring to this bar that we are currently in.

SUNNY: I was wondering if the line you were referring to was "Coming back to Philadelphia." And I was! "I will, Menzingers, I will!"

JOE: I don't know if Anna would want to come to Ray's Happy Birthday Bar.

SUNNY: Probably not.

Not every track... I mean, "Strawberry Mansion," just didn't love that track. But then "London Drugs," really loved that track. Some ups, some downs, generally good. I'm curious as to what you think of it after listening to it for two years?

[Editor's note: But we won't bore you with that.]