The Rentals – Songs About Time
Yeah yeah, all the big news this week is about Matt Sharp’s other band (or what used to be his band), but this is where it’s really at. While Rivers Cuomo is still trying to be the 21st Century equivalent of Loverboy, Matt Sharp continues to demonstrate his superior songcraft with what was once considered a second-rate Weezer side project. Not to mention contributing to the 2 best Tegan & Sara albums to date.
Back in January, The Rentals announced an ambitious multimedia project called Songs About Time. It involves 365 photos taken by Sharp over the course of a year, three self-released 4 song EPs, and a film series titled Songs About Weeks. The band have now released the 3rd and final EP in the series, Chapter 3: The Future. The biggest surprise to Rentals fans upon hearing the new material might be the general absence of a Moog, but in spirit these are easily recognizable as Rentals songs. And they certainly aren’t as Twee as Matt’s solo output, but they have slowed things down a pace.
You can stream all 3 EPs below in their entirety, but I’d recommend ‘A Rose is a Rose’ (the closest they get to the old-school Rentals sound), ‘Girls of the Metro’ (featuring the lovely boy-girl dynamic they’ve always excelled at) or ‘Late Night Confessions’ (possibly inspired by his time with Tegan & Sara, featuring new vocalist Jaime Blake – I think).
You can order the releases directly from The Rentals website in Deluxe, Premium or Standard form. The Deluxe version includes all kinds of crazy extras, like 180-gram vinyl versions, hardcover coffeetable book, HD DVD of the short film, VIP backstage passes to a future Rentals show, downloads, etc.
Tags: matt sharp, the rentals, weezer
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