Description
Let’s be honest with ourselves, folks: this is a live record. We all know it’s not going to be a home run. The good news, that shit doesn’t matter, but I’ll get to that later.
First off, Old Man Gloom were hardly even a band from 1998 to 2012. I mean, they made records, but they BARELY pulled it off. It’s mostly studio magic. Then, in 2012, they made the now classic “NO” and for some reason decided to play a bunch of shows. They’ve played more shows since 2012 than in the previous 13 years combined. That made it so they actually sounded like a band! This was such a relief, as people were excited about them playing, and showing up to venues. It would have been a real embarrassment if they sucked. One of these shows was in London, and for the most part, it was awesome. In fact, the members of Old Man Gloom hold this show in super high regard. A band called Circle was fortunate enough to watch Old Man Gloom play every night, and they were so enamored by Old Man Gloom’s brilliance that they chose to record this very show. Have you heard Circle? They’re fucking far out, and if those dudes like Old Man Gloom, they’ve got to be good.
Here’s a few problems with this recording:
1. You can’t see their hair. The hair is amazing, and a huge part of the experience. Music technology isn’t as advanced as hair technology, so we’re just gonna have to use our imaginations here.
2. The drummer royally fucks up the end of their most popular song. I mean, totally royally botches it. Literally stops playing way too early, and just sits there like an idiot not caring. The good news? No one gives a shit.
Which leads me to the main point of this one sheet, Old Man Gloom fans will fucking buy anything. I mean, anyone will pretty much buy any stupid thing these days. Especially on vinyl. I was at a record store the other day and I saw the fucking soundtrack to Ghostbusters reissued on vinyl. What the shit? Who needs the entire Ghostbusters soundtrack on vinyl? I mean, that’s a cool song, and Ghostbusters is hilarious, but what else is there besides “who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters!” to listen to? It’s embarrassing. I bet it’s sold like 10,000 copies, though, because people will buy fucking anything. So they’ll buy this. It certainly isn’t worse than any other Old Man Gloom record. And when the drummer fucks up? People LOVE that shit. They’ll blog it, or tinder it, or periscope it, or whatever kids do these days, and it’ll probably become a virus video. Except there’s no video, but whatever, there wasn’t video of Christian Bale yelling at the guy on the set of Terminator, and that became a virus video.
Buy big, and buy with confidence, because people in Old Man Gloom have babies, and babies can’t eat live albums, you feel me? And if these things sit around collecting dust, Circle is going to be pissed.
tracklist:
1. Shadowed / Gift (6:41)
2. Flood II (1:09)
3. Branch Breaker (0:51)
4. Accord-o-Matic (1:01)
5. Common Species (5:43)
6. Regain/Rejoin (2:47)
7. The Lash (2:02)
8. Christmas Eve pt III (1:17)
9. Hot Salvation (3:30)
10. Jaws of the Lion (2:35)
11. Skullstorm (0:49)
12. Sleeping With Snakes (2:19)
13. Rape Athena (1:54)
14. To Carry the Flame (radio edit) (4:00)
15. Scraps Theatre Presents: (1:40)
16. Zozobra pts. I – III (12:21)
17. Afraid Of (1:47)
18. Bells Dark Above Our Heads (3:57)
