well, yeah, the lyrics have definitely gotten away from the sillier side of things (which i didn\'t really mind), but musically they\'ve grown leaps and bounds. now, mooboo\'s (still my favorite bfast tune), puppetry, etc, have the elements that seem more mature - a full arc, not just an instant-rage kind of approach - but all of the newer tunes have this. it started, i think, with real radio and has really come on strong in the last year\'s worth of tunes. good things, for example is all about building the bittersweet, furute peek is similiar, honeybutter, while rage-ish, also feature more of a musical arc than it would have, say, three or four years ago. surreal radio could be played on the radio (as opposed to most of real radio), late>exposure is a brilliant combination of the old and the new.....
i guess what i\'m getting at, is that for the first time, their songs don\'t require you to be ready for a full on assault right from the get go. they draw the listener in and then grow until the gigantic jam is needed, not just there. and you\'re right, some of their songs were great examples of more traditional songwriting. but now i think they\'re managing to figure out how to combine the traditional elements with their own, unique approach. and its that synthesis that i think is what makes them sound so much more mature. then add in that that maturity gives the songs even more potency and i think that\'s why more folks have been able to appreciate what they\'ve been doing lately. its familiar, but altogether new.
and this year may well be more psychedelic than others (thank you boomerang pedal!) but it doesn\'t seem as forced. some of the things they used to do vocally, for instance, seemed like they were really trying for a certain sound, as opposed to just allowing it to happen. and that\'s an easy one to figure out why, simple age and mastery of craft. i remember thinking in early 05 that they\'d gotten away from those sorts of vocal stylings, mostly, i thought, because of the approach to the real radio tunes and wanting them to be more accessible. and i think it only helped! now, instead of trying to make it psychedelic, it just is. plus, they\'ve added more trancyness to their sound, so that helps, too. and they\'re doing it in their own way, instead of just trying to make it sound like things they\'d heard before. that\'s what i meant by \'forced\'.
