Elder, Omens
June 13, 2020
John Fisher
Elder!
I am sitting here with what appears to be a dream condo in Benicia, which I bought and closed escrow before seeing. Second home I’ve done that, Jesus I gotta chill. Why do I like taking a few more risks than most people? Unsure. But, if you were to throw me into the group of risk takers, I’m on the conservative end. The home has two flaws. One, it is literally right next to the freeway. Two, I can hear the upstairs neighbors, and they’re a little loud (but they are selling so it’s all good). Anyway, I’m pumped and am relishing in the chance to get the new place setup with a totally clean slate. And as for music reviews, I have not written a review since March’s Intronautilusmile’s Fluid Existential Inversionifications. That was a good album!
Elder released Omens! WTF…a past album of the year band released a new full length? These things only happen maybe once every 2 years! Big album. Big shoes to OUTGROW with Reflections. The Gold&Silver Sessions served as a great in-betweener jam sesh album but wow was I excited for this one!!! I had soooo many epic solitary moments with Reflections of a Floating World. It is going to be a timeless classic and it is in my daughter’s exclusive box of records: my picks every month her first year of life (…plus a couple). So about 15 treasured albums, and then album of the year for 2017 (Propagandhi), 2018 (Elder), and 2019 (Wilderun). That box o’ records is gonna be a very exclusive little music club for us I hope! Elder has definitely thrown their hat in for album of the year for 2020, but I keep thinking it’s not as good as Reflections, but I might be wrong! And once an Elder album sinks its teeth into you, it grows and grows.
There are some epic moments!
Elder teased the album with the first minute or so of the opener, “Omens,” on Instagram. I think I even commented on the post. Said something like, “that sounds sick, can’t wait.” Well…it has arrived, and that same teaser is the opener to the album! Great opening few minutes, then it goes the exploratory route around 4 or 5 minutes in. I have incredible patience with Elder and I don’t afford this same patience to other bands, and I think it is because every moment of their high quality musicianship is intentional. There are peaks and valleys in each Elder song I’ve heard, and this album does not disappoint, but where I keep leaning toward Reflections’ superiority is that Omens tends to give too much weight to occasionally mediocre riffs, where Reflections was so efficient and, in my opinion, not one section of any song warranted criticism. I can’t say the same for Omens, but…it is an incredible album, and “One Light Retreating” continues to be my favorite song for downhill mountain biking.