It’s December, 2021 and the shit has hit the fan. Kevin has released Aeon Station. Charles is once again readying his version. I cannot tell you how much I didn’t want it to end this way. Wrens members, who will never read this, I’m sorry for your sufferiing. I’m sorry it ended shitty. I’m just sorry. I love JLo and wish all of you the best.

Upvote for you bloc! Just got into The Wrens this past week and loving it! Reading this article and how they flubbed the release makes me realize why it was so easy to overlook all these years. But glad I’m finally on board. Also, The Monitor is one of my all-time favorite records as well. Cheers!

Hi, it’s me. Your resident idiot. And its almost 4 years after that comment. And I cannot tell you how much I love that it has zero votes. And this album is still the greatest album ever made.

For those of you that read this (why would you!?!) there are two other albums in my lifetime that have filled me with the same overwhelming sense of despair (in all the right ways)

The Cure – Disintegration. Is there anything more bleak than this thing? But I do love that they interject “Lovesong” right in the middle. It’s so outta charecter with everything else on this thing. BRILLIANT.

Titus Andronicus – The Monitor. What a monster of an album this is. So much seething negativity, anger, and lack of hope on this thing. So good that it’s ruined me for their other work. Which I’m sure is great. But I’ll never know because this beast won’t let loose of me……..when the whole band is chanting “You’ll always be a loser. You’ll always be a loser. You’ll always be a loser……” over and over again I get angry, happy, frustrated and purged all at the same time.

Thanks to musicians who take my life and help me come to grips with being 47 and still not knowing how to be a grown up. Thanks to Stereogum for making sure we hear about them and support them.

Blochead…..drops the mic.

Just talking to myself here.

A few years ago there was a Wrens documentary in production, did anything ever happen with that?

A masterpiece.

Every interview I read with them, I laughed. It took some time, but I finally got to sit down with them on video. Charles, Kevin, me, and a little MacBook in an Irish bar in Manhattan talking, an interview that goes seven segments. One of my proudest journalist moments for sure, (over here if you wanna check it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNVWs5dDnWA), mostly b/c I feel like it caught them like they are themselves, funny, whip-smart, and genuine.

This was great Stereogum, kudos for this!

and on a side note, I don’t think I’ve ever heard guitars sound more perfect than they do in the opening bars of Everyone Choose Sides. And the way Charles sings ‘I’ve walked away from more than you imagine / and I sleep just fine’ absolutely floors me. Every freaking time.

I’m with you 100 percent; it’s a masterpiece.

I rarely (if ever) toss around the word “masterpiece” to describe anything in rock and roll. By definition it lacks a certain emotional realism that the printed word can muster. But this album is a masterpiece by any standard. I’ve been trying to get my middle aged friends that think they like good music to listen to this for years. And I’ve yet to find one person that feels the way about it that I do.

Thank you, Stereogum. Thank you for making me feel justified in my long held belief that this is the single greatest achievement in modern rock history. For years I thought it was just me. But to see such a massive write-up and in depth analysis and coversation with the artists’ themselves makes me realize others MUST feel the same way about this as I do.

If you do not own this album. BUY IT NOW. Buy it and feel what the band was feeling. Buy into the emotional depth and despair. There is no better purchase you can make.

Blochead out.

I’ve loved The Meadowlands since it came out–but I knew nothing about its (or the band’s) back story.

Wow. Thank you for the song recommendation. What a terrific start to my day!