AJR, a controversial pop band as it is, just had its 10th anniversary of their debut album “Living Room.” For the anniversary, they re-released the album to stores with special vinyls to commemorate; however, are people celebrating?
Take this how you want, but I am an AJR fan. They were my first concert at TD Garden back in the summer of 2024, and it still remains the best one I have ever been to. The stage effects were crazy good, something I haven’t seen from other artists. That concert was for the band’s newest album “The Maybe Man,” an album made much later than “Living Room.” How does it compare?
Well, to start off the album is the song “Overture.” It’s a trend of AJR’s to start off albums with a song made with bits and pieces of the rest of the songs on the album to give you a little insight of what to expect. This is seen in their albums “The Click” released in 2017 and “OK Orchestra” released in 2021. Comparatively, this is the worst out of the three, but I’m not saying it’s bad. With the other two overtures, there’s a lot more vocal lines used from their respective albums rather than noises taken from the songs with a few random lines thrown in. It does set the tone for the rest of the album, though.
To follow is the song “Infinity,” and honestly I listen to this on its own from time to time. The acoustic guitar beat makes its own spot among the electronic sound of the rest of the album. It’s just funny to hear how high-pitched their lead singer Jack Met’s voice is now, but it’s not bad accompanied with Adam Met’s deep voice. I honestly like this song, especially with the message of love and wanting to be back to a time when you first made special memories with a person.
Then we have “I’m Ready,” a song that starts off with a sampled voice line of SpongeBob and continues to have that voice line continue through the choruses of the song. While this may seem ridiculous, the faster and changing beat of the song is pretty good. Plus, it’s about seizing moments and enjoying things, and went platinum in 2015 after doing well on international charts. This is another song that I have on my liked playlist because of the beat and the vibe this song creates.
“My Calling” starts off interesting with a sample beat, but then it leads into a softer electronic sound with a loud bass-heavy drum beat to accompany it. Then the vocals come in, and they really excel in the chorus. The song revolves around nostalgia and the longing for more in life, and that hope is really shown through the lyrics and sound of the music. This is one of the slept-on songs of the album, and I wish I had listened to this one more.
Then we have the beacon of death: “Thirsty,” a song that was a trend to tease because of its intro. The yodeling sample is what I don’t get from the song because the beat of the normal song without it is decent, but that yodeling haunts the entire song in a way that I can’t say helps support the song. Really, it’s the third verse that gets me. The band plays around with the sample, making the already goofy sound even worse. It’s about wanting to take someone home because it’s “thirsty Thursday.” Sadly, this is one song that I cannot get behind, and neither can the world, with how popular it became just because of how bad the intro was.
But to save it, we have the mythical-sounding song “Pitchfork Kids.” It’s about keeping your individuality and personality in a world that expects you to conform to its expectations. With an opera sample with a heavy bass beat, it makes the chorus sound like it’s a song an action movie would have as a gearing-up montage. I personally like it even though the beat may be out there for some people, and I think it’s one of the strongest on the album.
Then we have “Woody Allen,” one of the more forgettable songs on the album. It’s about feeling on top of the world and being “right where you should be.” The intro is an interesting riff-off like mixing of their own vocal samples. The rest of the song is slow, even with the faster-paced beat. Then, before the third chorus, they have another riff-off. It’s not a bad song, but it’s not as good as some of the hits on this album. With it pretty much in the middle of this album, to me it’s like an intermission.
“Livin’ On Love” up next brings the vibe back up a bit. Like the title says, it’s about living on love and enjoying the moment. It starts almost as a rap song, but there’s an interesting tempo change between the swing-like verses and the pre-chorus and chorus’ faster tempos. It’s not a bad song, but it also doesn’t really stand out in the album. Despite this, I would say it’s better than the song that follows.
After that comes “Big White Bed,” a song that quickly slows down the pace of the rest of the album. It’s about wanting a simple and cozy love life. In the other AJR albums, they have one or more slower songs, and this is what I think is the start of that trend. The vocals are primarily backed by an acoustic guitar, and it’s a nice and unforced change of pace that really shows another side of the band.
Next is “The World is a Marble Heart,” and this is one of the controversial songs on the album I have seen mocked on the internet for its third verse. It’s another part that they remixed to the point that it doesn’t even make sense to the tempo, and it’s a shame because I like the rest of this song. It quickly goes back to the fast-paced electronic sound straight from the calmness of the previous song, and I would say it’s one of the fastest songs on the album. It’s strange because it’s about having your heart broken and resilience in a broken relationship, which is shown through the lyrics; however, all that is destroyed for everyone through that one moment.
“The Green And The Town” is the song to follow, another song I forgot about but one that definitely made itself stand out from the rest of the album. It’s about growing up and changing as you do so. If “Pitchfork Kids” was the gearing-up montage song in a movie, this is the credits song. It starts off with just a piano in the back, but then it grows into something I could describe as motivational. I wish I hadn’t forgotten about this track because I would say it’s in the top five on the album as a whole just because of how different it sounds from the rest of the album.
“Big Idea” is the second-to-last song for the album. It has a very video game-sounding beginning with a lot of electronic sounds which carry through the song. The bass is heavy in this song, which differentiates from the rest of the album but not in a memorable way. The song is about the struggle for young artists in the music industry and how to persevere through. I can’t imagine listening to this song on its own and it’s probably one of the weaker tracks on the album purely because it’s not memorable or as great as some of the other songs.
To end the 13-song album is “Growing Old On Bleecker Street.” Being the only song starting with a ukulele, I’d say it’s the lightest song yet, which I think is a great way to end off. The “slower song to end the album” is something they do with the rest of their future albums, all of which I believe is the best way to end off AJR’s Indie-pop sounding albums. It’s also about the importance of having someone with you to go through life with. It’s a good message to leave off on, and although I think I’ve only listened to this song the first time I listened to this album I am going to start listening to this one more often.
So, is this their best album? No, absolutely not. Considering it’s their first album, I didn’t expect every single song to be a masterpiece, and that’s the case with a lot of new artists, if not all. For a starting point of the band, you can hear some similarities in music throughout the rest of their albums and a little in their most recently released EP, “What No One’s Thinking.” I have heard bad albums before, and this doesn’t come close to those. I don’t understand the overall hate against the band, other than a few songs, but nobody’s perfect. They have four other albums that are filled with songs I listen to often, and while this one has some interesting sounds, it deserves a listen for its 10th anniversary.
Hayley Doda can be contacted at
hayley@kscequinox.com
