HMLTD – West of Eden

I was a little hesitant on this album as I wasn’t all too into the opening title track and one of the other singles released, even if I talked about a single from this album last week. Though the problems I had with the album quickly grew on me when I listened to the entire album. It was probably inevitable for me to end up liking the LP in the end due to it consisting of genres I love. Firstly, it’s a Punk album, though with the bands aesthetics it would be Glam/Post-Punk and second, it also has Art Pop elements which I find to be my favorite Pop genre thanks to Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love.” This album really ends up being incredibly creative with the genres it ends up incorporating. Even a single back in 2018 called “Proxy Love” ended up getting me hooked on it because of how creative it was with its synths and Punk sounds. The Pop aspect of this newly released album really does POP and it makes me consider the band as pop stars regarding their whole look and aesthetic. I’ll leave the way they look to your use of google, but they really do end up standing out in the Punk scene and they end up being a great addition.

First, regarding 4 songs that were released as singles, I talked about 1 of them last week, they span about 3 years before this album came out, which is pretty impressive if you ask me. They ended up not having a full LP before “The West is Dead” for that long and its a bit saddening, but lets get back on track. The opening title track is nice intro in terms of letting you know how weird this album is. There is context to this song but we’ll leave it be. “Loaded” is the following track and you can read about it in last weeks post. Right after “Loaded” is “The Ballad of Calamity James” which is just a nice spaghetti western instrumental and coming up after is “To the Door,” the second of the singles in the track listing, which can put off some listeners. The odd beat switch was enough for me to fall off of the song but like I said earlier, it grew on me. Other than that the song will have you screaming ‘to the door’ because of how catchy it is, and that’s kinda a pattern in this album, a lot of catchy hooks. The 5th track is “Satan, Luella & I” which has a sorrowful demonic lead but opens up to this nice funky rhythm and is also the 3rd of the singles. Again, you’ll be singing the hook, ‘Soft, gentle stranger, Luella, babe won’t you marry me now,’ which is sung with a fitting melancholic tone. The next song will be slowing things down quite a bit but it’s a good one. “Mikey’s Song” is incredibly Poppy and all I can say is that its amazing. It’s the only traditionally downtrodden songs in the bunch and it WILL tug on your heart strings.

At this point I’m going to be talking about all 15 songs but I’ll try to cut to the chase. “Joanna” and “Where’s Joanna?” are sister songs that come right after the other with differing styles. The former is more solemn while the latter is more jumpy and a bit more hectic. The 11th track rounds out the 4 singles, that being “Death Drive.” Very literal and a VERY visceral experience, not only because its one of the louder tracks but also because of it’s context. The second to last track is “Blank Slate” which builds up to the final track with its crescending chorus singing ‘the world is a blank slate!’ The final track “War Is Looming” is the last solemn track and is also literal in meaning, not much to talk about.

Sorry for this long one, but I couldn’t help but really just talk about this album. Almost all 15 tracks are perfect to my ears and I’d recommend this song to anyone who enjoys Post-Punk.