Album review: Aaron West And The Roaring Twenties – “In Lieu Of Flowers”

Hopeless Records – 12 April 2024

Clawing out of the grave they dug themselves has no right sounding this good

First of all, how god damned dare they?  How dare Aaron West And The Roaring Twenties put out a record so hard to review? In Lieu Of Flowers is just mean to those of us trying to review the record. Every album review, no matter how well or poorly written, follows a few basic bullet points: personal connection, musicality, strongest track, weakest track… but this bully of an album is a slap in the face of that stylistic approach.  You want to know how I connected to this fucker? Well, I can't point out any individual example because every song slapped me across the mouth and sent me spiraling into the most optimistic existential crisis one can go on, every track is flawless in production and musicality (plus the fucking horn lines across this record are beautiful and perfectly balanced with the string-accompanied motifs).  What's the strongest cut on this son of a bitch? Its whatever one is playing at the time you ask me because they are all fucking perfect.  How god damned dare they do this to me?

The side project of The Wonder Years' Dan “Soupy” Campbell is on its third record here and its clear they are becoming less of a side project and more of an extension to TWY's suburban angst, a fictitious character's terrifying truths about growing up and clawing yourself back from the depths of self-destructive behaviors and burnt bridges.  In a shock to absolutely nobody, Dan Campbell remains one of the greatest lyricists of his time so every turn of phrase across the album cuts to the bone in a way that's indescribable and inescapable. I'd usually quote my favorite line from the album here, something deep, something introspective, a touch pensive… that's what I'd usually do, but I can't decide on which statement most stands out.  Its maddening. How fucking dare they do this to me?

The third and (I think) final release in the Aaron West trilogy, following the divorce and subsequent disappointments told on 2014's We Don't Have Each Other and 2019's Routine Maintenance this record sees our main character coming back home to try to get this shitshow back on track.  In Lieu Of Flowers shows Aaron West finding his footing, slippery as that process may be, and of the three records this is certainly the most dynamic thanks to the aforementioned horn lines and string arrangements and the wistfulness those elements bring to the narrative.

Of all the albums I've listened to in my life, of all the records I've loved before, I don't think any struck a chord across all 11 tracks the way this one did. The connections hit so strong, so urgently and so personal they felt ripped from my own journal pages… if I was clever enough to write a journal this poetic.  And that was just the feeling after the first listen, each subsequent playthrough hit even harder.  As a standalone song, every track is brilliant.  As a concept record, this is sublime perfection.  As a three-album narrative, Campbell as West has crafted something truly magical, despite the somewhat melancholic subject matter told across the aural novella.  Apologies to every other album that comes out this year, because I can't imagine a world where this doesn't sit atop every album of the year list come winter.  And trust me, I know what you're thinking, how god damned dare they?

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