RC f/u Pt. 17: Dave Matthews Band, Angelo de Augustine, Post Malone

There will definitely come a day when keeping up with Record Club alumni becomes too unwieldy of a task. Maybe that day is approaching soon, I don't know. All I know is that, after this is published, I'll still have five albums by RC alumni already out that I haven't reviewed yet, and thirteen slated to be released before Thanksgiving (and more being announced every day). Will there come a time that I don't force myself to listen to the new Post Malone album just because his album was covered in Record Club in February of 2020? Maybe! But that time is not now.

Walk Around the Moon by Dave Matthews Band

Released: May 19, 2023

Follow-up to: Before These Crowded Streets, Week 131

I read a NY Times article recently that profiled the fan base of DMB. I appreciate the fact that there is a sizeable number of hardcore Dave fans. I don't think this is a collective psychosis; they like Dave Matthews Band a lot because there is something there. If I don't quite see it, then that's my problem, not theirs. I guess that's to say that I'm maybe not the best person to be telling you what the difference is between their 2023 album and their 1998 album. Like, maybe I'm out of my element.

I liked Before These Crowded Streets. What I liked about it was that, in the margins, Dave's vocals sounded a lot cooler and growlier than the pop radio hits suggested. There was a pathway to me thinking DMB was "cool," which is wild, but there you go. And I'd argue that Walk Around the Moon continues that line of thinking. There's a general creepiness that permeates some or most of these songs, both explicitly ("Madman's Eyes" has a gypsy think going, and it's a radio single!) and implicitly (those horns, man... excellent). And that's cool!

It's also pretty when it wants to be (see: "Looking for a Vein"). And it can mix the two (see: "The Ocean and the Butterfly," in which Carter Beauford deigns to use brushes instead of sticks, and still manages to sound busy). The point here being that DMB sounds like they always have—dense and yet folky, or folky and yet dense—and that means that they are in complete control of their sound.

Is it too long? Of course. Penultimate track "Monsters" is a retread, and album closer "Singing from the Windows" is too slow and ends the affair on a flat note. I understand the length; you gotta pad that concert setlist! And that's why everyone is here, ultimately. The studio albums are besides the point. The live experience is where it's at... I presume. I've never been. Never will. Just not my thing. But I can appreciate how pleasant the studio albums are in the meantime. Fuck it. Keep 'em coming.

GRADE: 3 pukes out of 5 (no change from previous review, it felt right this time too)

Toil and Trouble by Angelo De Augustine

Released: June 30, 2023

Follow-up to: A Beginner's Mind, Week 139

A description floats to the top of one's mind when listening to the new Angelo De Augustine album: "This guy is a dime store Sufjan Stevens." The comparison is not a fair one. It's accurate, but it's not fair. The main reason it comes to my mind immediately is because we reviewed the album that both of them made together. It was pretty good. But Angelo had Sufjan to blend in with on that outing. Sometimes, you couldn't even tell the difference. Sufjan was able to mask some of the flaws of his musical partner. Not this time.

Angelo De Augustine's voice has a similar breathy quality, but none of the roundness and warmth of Sufjan Stevens'. Not that the former was learning at the feet of the latter or anything—they are, by all accounts, peers on equal footing—but it feels like Angelo learned the wrong lessons in how to make ethereal folk music. There's no balance here. It's all too soft and whispery. There are moments when you think it can't possibly get softer, and then he hits you with an instrumental ("Healing Waters").

There are a couple of tracks that overcome all this. "The Painter" is a nice folk tune. Same with "Another Universe." Both have a drive to them that can't be said about any of the other tracks. And I do appreciate the title track; it almost sounds like Elliott Smith. Not that he does a good Elliott Smith, but a subpar Elliott Smith is at the very least a nice break from a subpar Sufjan Stevens.

If you told me that Angelo De Augustine's work prior to his Sufjan collab was better than this, I would believe you. But Toil and Trouble demotivated me to find out on my own.

GRADE: 2 pukes out of 5 (-1.5 pukes from previous review)

Austin by Post Malone

Released: July 28, 2023

Follow-up to: Hollywood's Bleeding, Week 54

My current opinion was formed after we covered his 2019 album, but at this point, I think you know how I feel about Post Malone. It's no longer a hot take. So I won't repeat myself too much. But I was thinking about my take after a couple SSC song selections, and how much of our opinion regarding music has to do with our perception of the artist. Or, more conversely, how much our opinion of the music shapes our opinion of the artist. That's why Post Malone is such an anomaly. His music is so fucking bad. And yet everything else about him makes me want to celebrate this artist anyway. I can see the temptation to think he's an asshole, because his music is the kind that assholes typically make. But don't fall for that trap!

Anyways... Austin is bad, and I feel bad listening to it. I just don't understand it. I don't get why this dude sounds like a bleating sheep and this is somehow popular? Nothing sounds authentic. That gospel chorus in "Something Real"? Doesn't sound like something real. Maybe that's the joke. The choir comes back in "Novacandy," a song that makes the album's goals plain: this is supposed to be big and spacious and spacey and booming and it's just all not very great at all.

As always, we can charitable if we choose to be, and it's Post Malone, so why not? I love that guy. "Sign Me Up" is kinda catchy (it's one of the two Max Martin tracks, so it's catchy and has the heft of a bag of cotton candy). It could also feel catchy because it follows "Mourning," which is run-of-the-mill Posty with possibly the worst lyrics I have ever heard. I'm not being judgmental about what he's singing about (drinking), I'm just being judgmental about the words themselves being hackneyed and lame.

Actually, what do we know about Malone's drinking problems? I haven't been keeping up with the in-album mythology or the tabloids. On "Socialite," he says that he's "always a drink away from a good day." See, man, that's the shit I can relate to. I wish these sentiments were backed by music that was more my speed.

"My speed" being literal in the final three tracks. What gives? It's like Posty lost a bet and was forced to see how far he could deaccelerate his already slow signature sound. Or, more likely, he's just pumping up the track count with bullshit songs at the end, so that he gets more plays, and more money, and yadda yadda let's not blame Post Malone for how this fucked up system is designed.

Another Post Malone album in the books, but it's the same old fucking story. Bad music. Good guy. A weird combination of the two.

GRADE: 1.5 pukes out of 5 (+0.5 pukes from previous review)

NEXT TIME: Let's rip off the band-aid and cover the new Hozier album, among other sure-to-be stinkers.