There’s no getting around being a fan boy of a band that you know personally and have seen eight times. From events with 15 people to sold out arenas. They’re just gonna stick in your bones no matter what the case might be. Probably no matter what the album might sound like. That being said I’ve been able to sit on this one for a few months and the newness has worn off and my affection for the album has not.
My all-time favorite TOP song is “Car Radio” and actually it’s probably in my top 10 songs of all time. I could write a whole post on that song and the concert experiences therein.
On this album we get my second favorite track ever, “Next Semester”. That blink-182esque emotional bop. What a song.
I do think the video by video reveal during the release was helpful to connect to this full project. I would say I know that there is the lore of ongoing worldbuilding, but the title of the album is my least favorite. I think if you had called this anything else it might’ve even been bigger. For the TOP fan that might sound blasphemous, but for those who are not connected to the group Clancy means nothing and the learning curve is too steep.
Regional at Best/Vessel are always going to be my favorite TOP album and actually it ranks in my top 10 albums of all time. But Clancy is a banger. There’s not a track I don’t connect with. And I enjoy something new about each track every time I listen to it.