Polyvinyl Records, May 20, 2020
Jeff Rosenstock does something awesome, and I finally get it!
Okay, I’m going to level with you. I know I’m supposed to be a Jeff Rosenstock fan. He seemingly does everything right (you know, DIY ethics, helping out with and being a part of legendary bands, etc) and both his Bomb The Music Industry! and his solo stuff seems like it always gets rave reviews. But I just never get it.
NO DREAM changes all that. This record gets me and I get it in a way I’ve missed with his other stuff. It feels more cathartic at times, maybe more primal and raw. And I’m ending up surprised at how much I’m putting NO DREAM on.
Good sign #1: writing this up, I had a tough time narrowing down what great pop songs I wanted to go through from NO DREAM. “Scram!” brings a sort of cooler-than-Vampire Weekend vibe to start before jumping with both feet into a mid-tempo stomp that has tons of hooks and great singalong lines like “I’ve been told for most my life, try to see the other side, by people who have never tried to, see the other side”. “***BNB” is another great pop song, full of earworm hooks and touches of synthesizer. And “Nike (Alt)” is maybe my favorite of the hook-laden pop stuff. This one is pretty much power pop with a punk rocker’s urgency. The verse and bridge both deliver the goods, but the melody sung on the chorus sucks me in like no place else on here. It’s constantly driving forward as Rosenstock laments attempts to unsuccessfully find happiness by buying stuff (“I scour the internet for a new pair of Nikes, status symbol shit that I say I’m above” and “chasing bliss, chasing bliss is only numbing it”).
Good sign #2: besides bringing lots of pop hooks and singalongs, NO DREAM brings some cathartic bangers. I needed to hear “NO TIME” right out of the gate. It bursts from the speakers and feels positively euphoric in its bouncing punk energy without forgetting the good melodies (see the choppy chorus). And it’s done in less than a minute – checks all my boxes. “NO DREAM” starts off with a sort of ethereal guitar and voice, building and receding before screaming himself into believing it’s not a dream. A sort of hardcore Jeff Rosenstock, if you will. And on “f a m e”, the song blasts out of numbness thirty seconds in while shouting directives (“be a non-conformist, be an aging tourist” and “you will not control, so leave me the fuck alone”) and going double-time during an end run. These types of moments are all energy and angst and really feel right.
NO DREAM has won me over. I finally get it. Now to go back and figure out the old Jeff stuff. I think I’ve learned something: it’s not him, it’s me.
You might like this if:
- You like thoughtful angst-ridden words to go with your pop hooks and punk blasts
- I’d suppose if you already like Jeff, you’ll probably like this, too
You might not if:
- Not sure; I’ve never gotten into Jeff before, but here I am singing this records praises, so who knows?
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
