ALBUM REVIEW: Bleachers by Bleachers

   Ah, yes. The band's first album. Now, I know what you're thinking: but Mr. Hardy, this is their fourth! or I know they've been around for a while; surely this isn't their first! And you're right. Technically.

  See, this is Bleachers' fourth album, but the first three were made as essentially Jack Antonoff's solo project, led by him and some backing musicians. Bleachers was essentially Jack Antonoff's stage name. But with this new fourth one, he recruited a bunch of band mates. This is Bleachers' first album as a full-fledged band. Jack Antonoff is not Bleachers himself anymore - he is their lead singer.

   Also, please note that there are a bunch of bonus tracks to special editions of this album, but here I am only review the base release.

   So, let's go over the fourth Bleachers album - their first as a band!

1. "I Am Right On Time"

    This track isn't anything remarkable, but it is memorable and is certainly fitting as the opening track to the album. The album does much better, but it's by no means a bad song. 7/10

2. "Modern Girl"

    This was the first single from the album, the song that told the world that Bleachers is a band now. And it absolutely bangs. It's bombastic, groovy, and is one of the most dance-able songs Bleachers has ever done. 9/10

3. "Jesus Is Dead"

    Being a Christian, I was a little alarmed by the title of this song, but it seems to be lamenting Jack's perceived loss of the magic of New York City, and likening it to the death of Jesus. As a Christian I don't really like the maybe sacrilegious nature of it, but it's one of the catchiest songs on the album and I've found it stuck in my head a few times. 8/10

4. "Me Before You"

    Another single from before the album's relief, and unfortunately I'd call it the weakest one. It's a good song; it just doesn't pack quite as much of a punch as the others. 6/10

5. "Alma Mater" feat. Lana Del Rey

   The second single leading up to the album. It has a very melancholy tone to it and has the same kind of sound Jack explored a lot with the previous album, even with Lana Del Rey returning. It's pretty good. 8/10

6. "Tiny Moves"

    Oh look, another single! The music video for this one is literally just Jack's wife dancing. Probably my second favorite of the singles. My sister heard it once and she was already singing it, it's that good. 9/10

7. "Isimo"

    Another song about Jack's wife, this is one of the last songs I learned from the album. Not much against it, it's a fine song, it's just not as memorable as the others or have quite the same energy, but it's still quite good. 7/10

8. "Woke Up Today"

    This song seems to be Jack singing about how much his attitudes and beliefs can change, even on a daily basis. And he's not particularly happy about it. It's pretty good. 7/10

9. "Self Respect"

    Yay! Probably my favorite track! This song is Jack wanting to stop seeing himself in such a high manner and just allow himself to let loose and get a little reckless. And as a fan of fun., I love hearing Jack yell "I'M STILL HERE, AND I'M STILL PLAYIN'" when Nate and Andrew can't really say that as strongly, even though Jack is singing that as a more pained lyric given the one before it. 9/10

10. "Hey Joe"

      A very political song. I can't tell if the "Joe" in reference is Joe Biden, or a hypothetical generic American. This is probably the most explicit Bleachers has gotten in political lyrics. 8/10

11. "Call Me After Midnight"

      Perhaps the catchiest song on the album. It feels like a pop ballad you'd hear on any Top 40 radio station, but in a good way. 9/10

12. "We're Gonna Know Each Other Forever"

      Maybe the most emotional Jack gets on the entire album. You can hear the emotion his voice, it even straining at a part when he yells. It hits hard, and is a very nice, dramatic listen. 8/10

13. "Ordinary Heaven"

      I don't really know what this song is particularly about, except maybe that he wishes he was still an "ordinary" person and kinda dreads all the exposure he's gotten from being a famous person and misses having a normal life. 7/10

14. "The Waiter"

      Okay. The closer. It's fine. I kinda don't like that Jack discovered autotune and discovered to use it a whole bunch here, like Nate Ruess did in "It Gets Better" by fun., but I mean, it's not bad. And the epic instrumentals make up for it. I still think it's the album's weakest track, but that doesn't mean I think it's particularly a bad song. 6/10

OVERALL SCORE: 108/140

PERCENTAGE: 77%