| Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today |  |
We’re only a few weeks removed from the end of the year, and thus only a few weeks from our top ten of the year lists, or at least our top ten music lists. So I figured I might as well unload some reviews in a shameless attempt to up my post count for the year. The first album Before Today, is an album I’ve had for a while but never felt the need to write about despite the fact that it’s pretty good.
I guess Ariel Pink has been doing stuff for a while now, but this album sees him taking on a more band-oriented approach, which is fairly noticeable, even if you haven’t heard his earlier stuff. There’s plenty of psychedelic noodling and irreverent weirdness throughout the album, but it’s all confined to these very well-constructed psych-pop songs. It’s no wonder Ariel Pink was formerly signed to Animal Collective’s record label Paw Tracks, as there’s a lot of that same glossy psychedelia that was found on Merriwether Post Pavillion, but Ariel Pink definitely seems more interested in a classic pop songwriting approach.
The album kinda peters out towards the end, and I’m not really that crazy about the first song on the album either, but besides that the bulk of the album is filled with some really good, catchy songs. It’s not quite earth-shattering stuff, but it’s still one I’ll look back on fondly as one of the better albums that got me through the Fall.
Favorite Tracks: “Bright Lit Blue Skies”, “Round And Round”, “Little Wig”