I don't really remember how exactly I discovered this album, but I want to credit ARTV for it. I always think of ARTV's top 20 albums of 2021 when I think about where I got the recommendation from, but I listened to the single The Last Man on Earth first and I definitely didn't get that from him, so I don't really know how I found this album.
Beginnings aside, my thoughts on Blue Weekend have been everchanging ever since I first listened to it. Their indie rock sound is elegant and energetic, fun at times and emotional in others. They definitely score well for uniqueness, but I'll admit it took a long while for me to get into the album as a whole.
When it comes to The Last Man on Earth, it was love at first listen. There's just something about the softness and slow rise in intensity, the thematic sentiment, the way they bring in the band halfway through, the emotions portrayed in both the whisper vocals and the full blown singing later on, and just the introspectiveness of it all, that somehow speaks to me. It has the essence of a dreamy night-time lullaby juxtaposed with one of a powerful rock anthem, drizzled in sombre thoughtfulness.
I didn't know what to expect for the rest of the album, because on one hand, I wanted to find more songs that could speak to me the way The Last Man on Earth did, but on the other hand, that would make for a very bland and un-diverse record. I didn't know anything else about the band's sound, so I basically dove in blind.
I don't remember exactly why, but it didn't strike a lasting impression the first time around. My guess is that, like many other non-metal records, I listened to it when my ears were still too used to modern metal, so I couldn't adjust my tastes and judge it properly for what it's worth. That is no longer the case though, more than a year after I first listened to it. (Although some days I wonder if it's just a familiarity bias in the end.)
Wolf Alice has a very diverse set of sounds presented in this eleven song record, from the soft sisters The Beach and The Beach II and slow rockers How Can I Make It OK? and Feeling Myself to the powerful riff rager Smile and the childishly energetic Play The Greatest Hits. There's quite a lot to love within these forty minutes, between the great writing and the perfectly surreal atmosphere.
I took a long, long while to make up my mind on this record, but now I'm at a point where I can safely say I like this record a lot, although I'm unsure about saying that I love it. I cherry-pick from this record quite a bit, although there are a lot of good cherries that I pick, so I'd say it's pretty awesome overall.
Rating: 8/10