JEFF ROSENSTOCK – WE COOL?

RELEASE DATE – 2015

GENRE – PUNK ROCK / INDIE ROCK

I kept seeing girls that wear ripped jeans and vans raving about this album on twitter for the past like 6 months, and I wanted to see what all the hullaballoo was about. I’m glad I got around to checking this album out because I love it and it’s one of those albums that can tap into your insecurities and it makes you feel like the singer has some level of empathy for you even though he probably has no idea that you even exist. A lot of the songs on here kind of center around the theme of getting older and having to see your friends and the people you love leave and go far away to find success in their endeavors and college and such. This is shown the most in the opening track “Get Old Forever” where Jeff sings about all of his old buddies moving away and getting married and them just getting farther and farther apart. And then in the following track “You, In weird cities” Jeff sings about all of the good and memorable times he had with his friends when he was younger, and now that they are all far away and have families and jobs, he just wishes he could hang out with them again and relive old times. As well as the song “Polar Bear Or Africa,” where he talks about growing up and having to leave people behind and having to deal with adult problems like medical bills, student loans, and even funeral bills, Jeff says, “Wouldn’t it be great to be back in 1998?” Jeff Rosenstock is almost 34, but I feel like he is singing about issues and problems someone might have when they are in their late teens or in their twenties. This album is just pure money. Don’t let me categorizing this as a punk album trick you either, this thing has some insane instrumentation, and there is lots of brass, piano, synthesizer and even glockenspiel spread throughout this project. Songs like “Nausea,” which is a very heavy piano ballad where he talks about wanting to avoid talking to his loved ones because the pressure they bring onto him about his life and future is just too much for him to handle, has an insane trumpet section towards the end of the song. Another thing I liked about this album was how it kind of felt like a smorgasbord of different genres; you get different hints of power pop, alternative rock, punk rock, indie rock, and even some folk rock like on the song “Beers Again Alone,” which features a harmonica played throughout. I don’t want to spoil any more of this album for you, go and check it out.

Listen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InCYJiM3Zz0&list=PLXBlv7Xl70oXAmyGTjcd9IbjVE8HdRTQA

And if you enjoy it and want to buy it, you can get it here for 5 buckaroos:

https://jeffrosenstock.bandcamp.com/album/we-cool

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