Maybe you remember Aly & AJ. I did. Vaguely, anyway. I remembered Radio Disney pop that was not my bag. That’s a pretty simplistic hand-wave at a back catalog that includes a gold record, but it’s what I remembered. Imagine my suprise, then, when I found an Aly & AJ song in my Spotify “Discover Weekly”. I was very confused.
I played the song.
I am no longer confused.
While it somehow hasn’t managed to commandeer every post I make here, it is nevertheless true that I have developed a strong propensity for 80s-esque synth-heavy pop music. Strong. I’ve quite literally worn the figurative tread off a playlist unimaginatively titled “The New 80s”; it’s a genre I’m quite enamored with in general. I mention this because, as it happens, this is the angle through which Aly & AJ enter the frame.
I think we’ve all come to terms with my unadulterated love of words and generally speaking I think precedent would suggest I will happily use a thousand words instead of a picture ten times out of ten. Knowing that, and potentially having read the other things I’ve written here, I expect the following will be somewhat of a light shock and I wanted to prepare you for it with a vaguely wordy introduction that meanders along, much as I normally do. The thing is I just…don’t have words for this. I essentially subsisted on this album for three weeks, I took a break for Roo & the Howl (coming soon, seriously, no seriously, I’m serious guys), and I just-now-this-very-minute threw it back on with my good cans and I almost broke down under the weight of quality. This is the entire review of HAIM’s first LP, Days Are Gone: