Skye: go dive into his back catalog, especially Worry, No Dream and Ska Dream. The depth and range of skills that Rosenstock delivers is off the charts.

Prof. Skye, Seeing that you made a review for this album gave me the final push to listen to it, and I'm very glad I did. As for this video, your prolix analysis, was great, however, I think you missed some depth in one of the lines in "Doubt." Particularly, "slow-motion kill screen." You analyzed it as "in a lot of video games, when you die, it goes into slow-motion", but besides this generally being untrue, "kill screen" doesn't refer to a death screen. Rather, a kill screen (particularly found in old arcade games) is a stage of a game where it is literally impossible to continue, either due to physically impossible difficulty, or software bugs. An example of this would be in Tetris, where the at a certain point in the game, the pieces fall so fast that it's impossible to clear any lines (without exploits, but that's besides the point), forcing you lose. So in the context of the stanza, the line is saying that when one is depressed, living in hellmode, or whatever, your life feels like a kill screen. And when you reach a kill screen in Tetris, you'll maybe last a minute, but the description of it being "slow-motion" further emphasizes how it feels like you're on the kill screen "your entire life." It feels like there's nothing you can do to prevent your inevitable loss. Thanks for the vid!

AVAA, sir. I was introduced to Jeff by a friend that has his own punk band. I wasn't necessarily into punk until I listened to WORRY. Fantastic album and artist, he's a true savant with gut-punching lyrics and his sound is irreplaceable. Saw him in concert this year and the crowd was full of the kindest goofballs I've ever met. I can't get enough of the guy, his message, and his random side projects. Fun fact: he's a large part of the soundtrack for a Cartoon Network show! Good day to you all.

I've always interpreted Graveyard Song as subverting that idea that we HAVE to be forgiving to everyone and move on from the past. There's no reason to build bridges to people who aren't building them back so maybe sometimes you can just let that connection "die". I think this line is best supported by the line "When someone causes pain And it's okay to push them away"

You know you talked about not liking pop punk but this is pop punk by almost all contemporary definitions. It's not Greenday blink 182 style but still, it's pop punk. One of Jeff's previous albums was called the abbey road of pop punk in a KZfaq review. I think Jeff is one of the few contemporary artists deserving of the "genius" descriptor. Hellmode was a great album and it deserves a place next to so many other great works in his catalog. You should check his other stuff out in your future AIMs

AVAA!!! It's such a joy to see this in my subscriptions. I've been a viewer for years now (you may recognize me as JohnJRenns... it's been so wonderful to watch your viewership grow recently! I remember when I was 1 of 50 views...) and Jeff Rosenstock is my favourite songwriter of all time, so this meeting is like my dream finally coming true. Hellmode is one of my favourite albums this year, along with Wallsocket which you also did a lovely review of, and it was nice as always to hear your analysis and emotional resonance with it. I have similar stories with past Jeff Rosenstock albums, I connect to his albums emotionally and he is just a genius songwriter. I've honestly been busy all week, with finals and exams, I'm also working on a new EP with my band, so I don't have a lot of nice things I did which I can say.... but somebody did tell me recently that my new album that came out was something that resonated with them a lot, and I felt very glad about that, since I put a lot of myself into that record. I've also been trying to stay in contact with my friends, and tell them how much they mean to me more often, which is something I've struggled with often... I like to think I am getting better at it! :)

THIS IS MY FAVORITE ALBUM OF THE YEAR AND IM SO GLAD YOU FOUND IT!!! I LOVE SEEING YOUR PROLIX REVIEWS ON MY FAVORITE STUFF!! When I heard you say you cried, I immediately thought “3 SUMMERS, DOUBT, or HEALMODE” because those are the songs that make me feel that way for whatever reason. I got close enough haha

AVAA Professor This week I cleaned my room, went for long walks, and tomorrow am hosting a competitive slam on behalf of my poetry group. I'm very excited and this album has really helped keep me grounded whether I'm sinking or soaring

AVAA! i’ve been listening to jeff rosenstock forever. he’s amazing. i’d recommend you check out the song nausea by him. also, he was the lead singer of a band called bomb the music industry.

jeff has been my favorite musician for almost 20 years now and its crazy how he always releases my new favorite record

"Life Admin" takes on far more depth when you know Jeff's biography, history with DIY punk and an unending string of couches, basements, and student union halls. He has misgivings about caring so much about petty things, and also about having nice things. My 2c.

So happy to see you review my favorite artist of all time Skye. Hope to see you at his live show in April! AVAA :)

Graveyard Song is the highlight for me because I feel like it's an important reevaluation of the practice of forgiveness. They say that to forgive someone is really for yourself, but too often it just means "I'm done trying to hold you to account for your actions this time." I had ended a one-sided 'friendship' when I first heard this song. I was angry because I'd thought about all the ways that person had let me down and, through therapy, I finally realised it was always intentional. I struggled for a long time with feeling like I should just let it slide for the sake of over a decade of friendship so I didn't have to be alone. It was validating to hear someone say "When someone causes pain it's okay to push them away" It was cathartic to hear someone say "Stop trying to explain to me why I'm supposed to be forgiving if you will not say you're sorry"

AVAA ✨ so glad you enjoyed this. I’d recommend my other favorite albums by him but it looks like everyone else here has me covered. Beyond a rock solid discography he’s got one of the most fun and loving live shows I’ve ever been to. I’ve made great friends and always felt embraced with a sense of community.

21:38 I don't know How to scrape off the dog shit that's stuck on The heart of the fucking world How to cut loose the doom that's been screwed to The roof of my fucking scull How to make life the kind where you don't die Regretting what you haven't done Those are the lyrics to that verse in doubt you couldn't make out. Once you know what he is singing you will hear it clearly. Doubt also hit me extremely hard the first time I heard it. "How to cut loose the doom that's been screwed to the roof of my fucking skull" is the one that I really resonate with.

AVAA! Great review. Try and check out Jeff on his upcoming tour if you can! One of the best performers going today

Prolix :) Listened to this for the first time today, just seen your review now. Can’t wait to revisit it, been a Jeff fan for a while now so I’m glad you enjoyed. Speak!

Jeff has a long and awesome history and backlog, Worry is one of my favorite albums of all time and a lot of Bomb the Music Industry is some of the most overlooked 2000's punk, especially when I'd personally consider them the best in the genre of that era. I will always respect just how much he puts creating art out of passion over simply for profit, hating the need to make money for his work almost to a frustrating degree at one point. His label is one of, if not *the* first to be purely donation based, predating the Radiohead "In Rainbows" release and Bandcamp. Bomb pretty much broke up because Jeff hated having to hock merch to keep going. There's a really great documentary about Bomb the Music Industry that really illustrates how genuine Jeff is with his DIY punk ethics. It's called "Never Get Tired: The Bomb the Music Industry! Story", the director has it uploaded on youtube: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Zp-ed9Walt-Xm4U.htmlsi=I2fW6oO4nEPab56-

I would highly suggest seeing him live, its life changing

awesome video as always

I had a similar experience with that track. It was on my third listen, on my way home from a pretty lousy day at work. It got to that part and I was finally internalizing the lyrics and realized he was describing large chunks of my life for the past 15 years. I got that sharp inhale and the ball in my throat. I fought back the tears cuz I was driving haha

AVAA, i was hoping you’d cover this as Jeff Rosenstock is my favourite artist and i wasn’t disappointed, thank you for your insight into my favourite album of the year

Damn,i've found your channel with this video,loved the analysis ❤ Got gut punched with Jeff a few years ago for the same reasons you describe,he holds a special place in my heart. Def gonna check your channel out

Avaa! You'd like the ethics of his prior group Bomb The Music Industry; he gave away all his music for free online with the option for donation and started a record label to let others do it too. They didn't sell shirts but they had stencils and spray paint to turn any shirt you brought into merch, and ran the band more as a collective than a strict set of members.

Easily my album of the year, happy to see you cover it :)

Really love this album from Jeff. I totally relate to what you said about Doubt. Thank you for putting it out in words that I did not have. So powerful.

Your breakdown of this album, specifically your articulation, diction and overall self-awareness, pushed me to subscribe. Have a great day and I will see you next time. Oh and prolix

AVAA but dang you need to listen to No Dream & Ska Dream. One of the best punk albums and best ska albums of all time. Imo

AVAA Skye, I appreciate you and your channel so much

AVAA another album I really like and thanks for telling me why

AVAA I love how he doesn’t know much about Jeff but he still kinda got his past right on a guess lol that was really cool

AVAA. Just listened to this album not knowing of Jeff Rosenstock as well and was blown away. I recently got into your channel by looking for an in-depth dissertation on Maps by Billy Woods which is my favorite album of the year. I'm so glad to have found out about your channel and hope you keep posting reviews. Thank you!!

I love Jeff Rosenstock thank you for the review AVAA/Prolix ❤

The lyrics at the end of doubt are: “I don’t know how to scrape off The dogshit that’s stuck on the Heart of the fucking world, How to cut loose the doom that’s been screwed To the roof of your fucking skull, How to make life the kind where you don’t die Regretting what you haven’t done, You gotta chill out with the doubt” Basically, I feel that it once again weaves that thread of the interpersonal and the political or global, showing how this can be a singular issue spawning from mental illness or bad habits but also, for some, this feeling of uselessness isn’t just from a sense of not being on a “grindset” or not having their life together by hegemonic and material metrics but also by the fact that we do live in a world that’s set to “hellmode” and for many that passion, rage and fear at the hatred, oppression and unfairness displayed on a daily basis that they are helpless to stop can make them feel like nothing in their life has any value and that their life can in fact be cut short at any moment by fascists, dictators, and general issues on a global scale that the individual cannot affect without heavy organising and years and years of slow burn effort and protesting. It also shows how both of these issues are not mutually exclusive and can enable each other. AVAA

Amazing insight as always. Really loved the (slow motion) breakdown (😉) of the track Doubt! Very thoughtful!

avaa you nail jeffs influences with laser beam precision

Prolix (please check out all of Jeff’s discography including Bomb the Music Industry)

Waiting patiently for the Kara Jackson review 😊

The line" f*ck bulding bridges everybody start diging" means that you sometimes compromise your values in an effort to bring people to your side or achive some sort o consetion or middle ground we you both can agree on something, and that is important but sometimes you have you feel like saying f*ck this sometimes things need to be dismantled, forgotten all together

i listened to this album everyday for almost a month. it really spoke to me. and this record is extra special to me because I ran into my now girlfriend during the HELLMODE tour

Just got into this record last week, it’s really incredible! Glad to hear your thoughts on it!! AVAA

Loved this, thank-you. I'm of a certain age (61). Meaning my musical center of gravity loosely approximates to the album London Calling which came out the year I graduated high school. Since then I've been continually in search of new music that captures me in the way I would regularly experience in those halcyon days, spinning record store finds with my mainstream-rejecting music geek friends. Not merely hipsterish contrarianism. Rather a music sensibility best illustrated by example - take a look at the first music video The Clash released, "Tommy Gun", and see if this description of Green Day I once read doesn't resonate - that Green Day killed a punk rock band and wore their skins. Jeff Rosenstock, and this album especially, has captured me in that way like no other in ages. This is enduring music. Already in the pantheon, just waiting, once again, for the world to catch up and take notice. You learned something with this album review that I only recently discovered myself. That the hidden gems of contemporary punk has married the political with painfully confessional songs about the impact on our emotional inner lives. At first discomforting, especially for people of a certain age. Yet at the same time undeniably compelling and eventually it dawns on you - what's more courageous than that? Bursting out in tears on the treadmill is punk, my friend. It's solidarity with those who are suffering quietly on the inside under circumstances not of their making, and a call to acknowledge our collective responsibility and to once again man the barricades to demand that we all do better. "Raise a toast to St. Joe Strummer, I think he might've been our only decent teacher". And bless the equally brilliant Jeff Rosenstock (yes, I said it) for taking the torch and running with it. If you didn't know, Jeff has a stylized tattoo of the London Calling album cover on his forearm.

excellent review prof and AVAA :)

AVAA Skye! Rosenstock's music tends to weasel it's way into my brain.

"... like I just met former President Trump, tears pouring down my face...?" This is my first visit to your channel. I had no idea what to make of that throwaway. I kept watching anyway. I can imagine several things I might do if I ever came within a couple feet of the former social media Sadist-in-Chief who tried to take away my health insurance when I was deathly ill in 2017 ("pre-existing condition!"), but crying isn't one of them. (Come to think of it, I often sang the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" during his administration because he trumped the Sex Pistols' performative "no future." His cheap brand of misanthropy/nihilism/narcissism is petty, unironic AND unheroic.) I'm also new to Jeff Rosenstock, but I read today that he'd put out a ska version of one of his albums (and you mention ska yourself here), so maybe "oi" is a musical reference. Thanks for your take on this album, though. P.S. I had to look up Aaron Carter. He was a blond pop singer from the '90s who died of an OD at age 34 in 2022.

This album gets me so pumped up. I listened to it so many times.

as an autistic person, i think doubt is the best song about autistic meltdowns (thats not about autistic meltdowns) that ive ever heard. avaa

I only knew the word prolix from that Nick Cave lyric on We Call Upon The Author

AVAA! I know you probably won't review any more music this year, except for what you already planned, but I would really recommend you listen to Anohni and the Johnsons - My back was a bridge for you to cross, I think it's an incredible album, her lyrics are very moving. But if you can't listen to the album at least listen to Sliver of Ice, which was inspired by a conversation she had with Lou Reed before his death.

AVAA ❤🎉 thanks for the sponsor! I can also recommend self-love. Is there a promo code we can get as well? Srsly tho, I'd had a rough stretch last week and was able to have a positive turnaround, in part due to having to find a balance between involvement in the world's political and ecological chaos vs. Self-care and me-time for healthy individuation

AVAA prof if you're still looking for albums from this year that you might've missed, i really recommend Julie Byrne's The Greater Wings. came to me late but i've absolutely fallen in love. hard to find a more gorgeous album this year.

Hi cecily i know ur gonna be here for this vid

Not ashamed to admit that this album made me cry too

"The redundancy of your POV"

I finished up my second semester of grad school this week!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the album God Forgive These Bastards by the Taxpayers. Imo one of the most important punk albums of the current century

W

AVAA! I've been listening to Jeff for half my life now. I've been a fan since the Bomb the Music Industry! days when I was 15. (You should def look into BTMI! Vacation is his masterpiece from that era, but Scrambles or Get Warmer are good entry points.) Surreal seeing this anarcho punk internet meme artist that I'd cry to in college getting academic style analysis from a professor in 2023 😅

AVAA! Have you considered checking out Thy Slaughter(A.G. Cook and EASYFUN)'s new album Soft Rock? It's easily my album of the year and since PC Music is no longer releasing after this year it's worth checking out.

This album sounds like recovery

Man, the section where you talk about loving yourself even if you arent productive or the best version of yourself really hits me. God damn.

AVAA Prof. Thanks for reviewing Rosenstock. Makes me think of other artists with Jewish names. You might want to give the new Kosha Dillz a listen and provide some context. Thks

Hey Skye! Could you check out albums by this Japanese band called betcover!!? black midi and bcnr went to a live show of theirs and tweeted all good things about em. I think they're really good and would benefit from your review.

AVAA This last week, I made art on a day I felt like doing less than nothing. Thank you.

I had the same experience. His "Worry" record was my introduction to him and i said on twitter it's better than any david bowie record and i meant it. There's an awesome documentary on him and his old band here on youtube i highly recommend, though it drags on a little long but it's really interesting. I love Jeff Rosenstock.

Fun fact. Before Weezer did Pinkerton and Blue album back to back. Jeff's old band Bomb the music industry performed both albums back to back before weezer ever did.

Hey, I love your videos and I am going to school in DC as well, does your son happen to go to AU?

my aava has been prolixed

HELLYES

Please do a reaction review for the new OhNo & Elzhi album 💿 entitled - “Heavy Vibrato”. Thanks 🙏🏾 much appreciated!😊

Near the middle 3 Summers references a riff from doubt. I love this album so much, probably my aoty next to GUTS AVAA Edit: also the back of the CD has the words “Earth will survive you” in all caps I also played my trombone today for the first time in years and it was nice Jeff Rosenstock was in a couple ska/punk bands The Arrogant Sons of Bitches and Bomb the Music Industry. he even made a ska album in 2021, definitely listen to it when you get the chance, u dont have to make a review lol

Remember to listen to Zach Bryan’s self titled! It’s one of the best country albums I’ve ever listend to!

AVAA professor 🫡

There isn't one jeff rosenstock album that hasn't made me cry

Prolix

"He might have been in a ska band" Idk he doesn't look like the guy to enjoy ska

prolix!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This guy just makes me wish Jay Reatard was still around. Also, they sound nothing alike but it seems… ah skye said it right as I was writing this… seems like Jeff kind of took Black midi’s aesthetic and made it more cartoony.

AAVA! And prolix!

Prolex, dude

Also I think you’re talking about Nick Cannon when talking about Aaron Carter 😂 Aaron’s dead though… Also yes, lots of weezer influence on this record and a lot of Jeff’s stuff

avaa skye, please do yourself a favour and check out his other albums as well as his old band bomb the music industry, he is the greatest punk artist of the past 20 years

A prolix AVAA ❤❤❤

AVAA!

Proooolix

Day 220 of Asking you to Review Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youth

Prof., are you rooting for Brighton in the PL? AVAA

avaa

AVAA

Prolix :)))

prOilix

prolix

Avaa

frolics

your israel/palestine commentary here aged so poorly.

HELLMODE FOREVER! Glad you messed with this album Professor Skye, you rule 🗣️📢

"i don't know if he was in a ska band" is crazy

Prolix

AVAA

prolix