ALC #17 1,2,3 - Big Weather

[meccalecca]

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Big Weather by 1,2,3


There's a handful of albums high up on my 2014 chart that have seen little attention, so it was a tough decision what to make my latest ALC pick, but after a couple cerebral picks from Skinny and Norman, I wanted to share something on the poppier end of the spectrum. 1,2,3 was signed to French Kiss (Passion Pit, Antlers), but after their debut they were dropped and eventually broke up. A chance meeting led to the Pittsburgh band to regroup and record this epic 20 song double album heavily indebted to 60s pop and T. Rex along with modern recording techniques. What makes this record unique is that the natural disaster theme is tied together with a few really fantastic spoken tracks. While it's not groundbreaking, it's certainly one of the most enjoyable listens I've had this year.

stream it here:
https://soundcloud.com/americanhermitag...er-full-lp
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[Necharsian]

Thanks mecca ill give this a listen in the next couple days. any friend of the antlers is a friend of mine.

[Necharsian]

Bummp. this is really working eh..

1. Death Vessel - Island Intervals
2. Wovenhand - Refractory Obdurate
3. The Fun Years - One Quarter Descent
4. Have a Nice Life - The Unnatural World
5. Phil Beaudreau - Ether
6. Alcest - Shelter
7. The Gloaming - The Gloaming
8. Ratking - So It Goes
9. An Ant And An Atom - You Are No One
10. Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness
11. Univers Zero - Phosphorescent Dreams
12. Actress - Ghettovile
13. Mike Jourgensen - Moodeity
14. 1,2,3 - Big Weather

[Norman Bates]

Listening to this tonight. Sorry for the delay.

[Skinny]

I'm listening now. If I was in a different mood (i.e. not horrifically hungover) I might find this fun, but as it is I'm finding it slightly irritating. I really liked the first song, and that Swordfishtrombones-over-Nelson-Riddle storytelling number near the beginning. It's definitely going on a bit too long, but I'll be returning to it when I feel like listening to some harmless indie rock. Getting major T. Rex vibes, the problem being that I've never really enjoyed T. Rex. I also feel like they sound a bit - a tiny, tiny bit - like Vampire Weekend minus the suffocating levels of white guilt (but it's mainly T. Rex). I'm also getting a kind of Dr. Seuss vibe from some of this, it's definitely bringing back memories of The Grinch. I half think that this album is made for children. But it's mainly T. Rex.

(Also, I don't think One Quarter Descent is "cerebral".)
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2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.

[19loveless91]

2 listens in, rather enjoyed it, although I would agree that it's too long. Also, wasn't in the mood to properly follow the spoken word tracks... I can hear the T. Rex vibes that Skinny is on about, although not really throughout the album. There were a couple of moments on the album where I felt it was in danger of falling into the sort of a Foxygen-esque trap of merely copying their influences and repeating the motifs without doing anything of their own, but they just managed to avoid that. I think.

Album opener, Stone Haus, and Porch Swing Song are the tracks that stood out to me so far. If I had to rate it, I'd give it something like a 70-75/100.

By the way, is it possible that this thing isn't even in the RYM database yet?

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ALC albums ranking according to my weak and failing memory (albums that I only gave a single full listen are marked with a *):

Have a Nice Life - The Unnatural World
Ratking - So It Goes
The Fun Years - One Quarter Descent
Juçara Marçal - Encarnado
Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness
Wovenhand - Refractory Obdurate
The Gloaming - The Gloaming
Actress - Ghettovile
1,2,3 - Big Weather
Phil Beaudreau - Ether
Chicano Batman - Cycles of Existential Rhyme
An Ant And An Atom - You Are No One
Alcest - Shelter
*Mike Jourgensen - Moodeity
*Univers Zéro - Phosphorecent Dreams
*Benjamin Construct - Anamorphic Reality
*Death Vessel - Island Intervals

[meccalecca]

Thanks everyone. I pretty much agree with everything being said. The biggest weakness of the record is that it's too long. I think it starts strong and trails off a bit. I figure the people here who mostly just dig poppy indie rock records will likely enjoy it most.
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[Kiki]

Sounds like The Black Keys. There was this spoken word part which was too quiet.

[samistake2ice]

I've been away from the ALC for a few months it seems, so i was trying catch up today.
Being that im so far behind, and the thought of listening to 10(ish) albums back to back would really string me out. I put the ones i hadnt listened to in a spotify playlist and listened on shuffle. Songs that stood out i made note of to listen to the whole record. And this album kept catching my ear. Probably for all the reason that were mentioned above (the pop indie-rock a la vampire weekend vibe), but hey i like that stuff.

It is long but so far im really enjoying it

thanks mecca
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Kiki wrote:

You're chart is sooooooooo american. It's like a diner in here.

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