Pedro the Lion "phoenix"

The second album that has really resonated with me is #pedrothelion  new disc "phoenix". I have been an avid fan of the band for twenty years and when I heard David Bazan was putting the band back together after a 15 year hiatus I was skeptical. I havent really loved his prolific solo output but I took a chance on the moniker and it's another cd that strikes a real chord with me. It's still sad stuff, but now it's steeped in the kind of nostalgic melancholy that someone in their late forties can really sink into. Every once in a while if I'm in the areas I grew up in I will drive past old homes and haunts from when i was a kid. Most of those neighborhoods have drastically changed but I still see ghosts of my life there: I helped plant a pine tree that now towers above the two story duplex we lived in, my childhood school bus stop looks it was cryogenically preserved (I got off my motorcycle and i swear the texture of the rust on the stop sign was the same, like ancient braille). I am amazed at the distances I traveled on my bmx bike. At the time I never thought of the journeys, only the destinations. I wish i could calculate the amount of miles i peddled. The yard line markers we spray painted on our street for touch football games are long paved over but I could still see the tree that landmarked the southern endzone.i remember when an errant pass or kick would touch a draped power line we would all pause before touching the ball because we were afraid of being electrocuted by the now charged pigskin. That these songs can conjure these memories are a true testament to the writing and the universal consensus that childhood is all too brief. Damn fine cd.

Pedro The Lion "winners never quit"

With the election looming this fall I was reminded of this concept album by #pedrothelion "winners never quit".  I love concept albums.  It probably started when I discovered the story behind Pink Floyd's "the wall" as a young teen.  The fact that each song was a chapter in an album length story was extremely novel to me (oh joyous play on words). It's very cinematic and adds delicious layers to the abstractions of music.  It's not that this disc is great at delivering an acute tale, it's doesn't.  It's about as loose and foggy as a concept album can be while still being called such.  Though I think the strength here is in the poetic rather than literal lyrics. It's more like a story board album. Snapshots from a bigger picture.  The story I get from all this is a brother's ascent and fall in politics with mariticide, alcoholism, parental favoritism and blind faith in God's reward all playing roles. The lyricist David Bazan let's you connect dots he's mapped out and it makes for a fun thoughtful listen.
This record revolves in my playing list coinciding with presidential terms in office. Every four years I'm reminded how much I like this cd and I'm reminded how much I generally think politicians are sleazy egomaniacs.