Better Oblivion Community Center - Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers: Review
Better Oblivion Community Center
is the duo consisting of legendary neo-folk artist and former Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst and up and coming folk rock star and Boygenius member Phoebe Bridgers. The duo did very little press for the album before its release besides dropping a nondescript interlude style single but given their various success and the combination of a genre veteran with a great new talent gave reason to be excited for this project.
Review By Lav:
Better Oblivion Community Center is a conceptual breathe of fresh air for me. Even in the world of next day album drops and wiped out social media pages its so hard to be truly surprised by a release in the way this project made so many inside fans feel. The duo of Conor Oberst who fronted one of my favorite bands of the 2000's the incredibly indie folk icons Bright Eyes, and Phoebe Bridgers who released a solid debut album in 2017 and followed it up with the quality boygenius EP the pair seems primed to play off of each others creativity and make something special out of the collaboration.
The opening track is a slow burner that starts with Phoebe's soft verses and builds up into a duet with an erupting chorus. It's a slow start to the album and a slow start to the song but it builds in a fittingly exciting way. Its in stark contrast to the hefty drums that open up the albums second track Sleepwalkin a much livelier Conor led song that is a little bit hookier and a little bit meatier. The track ends up with a verse for each artist but its highlight is the chorus which manages to be bright and exciting without leaving the realm of folk-rock that the albums inhabits. Exception To The Rule follows this same formula with another memorable chorus, but not as much impact laced through the verses.
The next song up is Dylan Thomas which seemed to be the albums single that wasn't a single, spotlighting the performance leading up to the albums surprise release and getting a music video shortly afterward. With such a great dueted hook and some excellent guitar passages littering the songs second half and outro its easy to see why, the cut is patient in the vein of folk rock but makes a huge statement early on in the project and will be one of the most remembered cuts. The next track Service Road is another good one, but in a much different vein. The somber and boyish vocals from Conor Oberst breeze by over some natural drums and acoustic guitar work that gives the track a comfortable sensationalism as it works towards its emotional peak, its one of the better examples of good songwriting you can find in the project.
Chesapeake may be the sleepiest moment on the project bu t it also finds a way to hit its stride. A handful of irresistibly catchy refrains make the song one that has memorable highlights but isn't the best full tune. Big Black Heart matches its somberness with a much more frontal tone. The dueted track is a slow build to a bombastic closer that shows the two artists giving some of their most passionate performances across the entire project and totally delivering on the songs title promise.
My City is one of the more dull moments on the project. A solid instrumental is built up but for the most part it begs for a little bit more enthusiastic vocal performances. The next track Forest Lawn may be the lowlight. Not a bad song by any means but relentlessly boring and far more snore inducing than most of the tracks despite the albums lowkey approach.
The closer Dominoes is one of the most Bright Eyes inspired, at least in its first half. Conor Oberst's vocals are front and center over a driving but quiet backing instrumental and his lyricism is on sharp display. Unfortunately as the song evolves it drifts into the predictableness towards the second half and the duo vocals fail to stand out among the rest of the tracks and leave a good impression right at the end of the tune.
In conclusion despite a shaky start and finish as a whole project Better Oblivion Community Center has a consistent and solid sound that it executes well. It fails to reach the emotional peaks of Bright Eyes best records but the world that it settles into is a comfortably one for folk rock in 2019. The loose concept it follows is one that I wish it had a little bit more commitment to, and that would have helped flex the lyrical muscles of two artists who have been praised for such thing before. In spite of this the album works on its own terms and uses its sonic consistency as a platform to execute a formula successfully for most of the album. Ultimately a duo with such talent leaves me wanting a little bit more from the project but what we have here is plenty enough to insure that Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst are capable of some very solid work is they continue in the future. 7/10
Better Oblivion Community Center is a conceptual breathe of fresh air for me. Even in the world of next day album drops and wiped out social media pages its so hard to be truly surprised by a release in the way this project made so many inside fans feel. The duo of Conor Oberst who fronted one of my favorite bands of the 2000's the incredibly indie folk icons Bright Eyes, and Phoebe Bridgers who released a solid debut album in 2017 and followed it up with the quality boygenius EP the pair seems primed to play off of each others creativity and make something special out of the collaboration.
The opening track is a slow burner that starts with Phoebe's soft verses and builds up into a duet with an erupting chorus. It's a slow start to the album and a slow start to the song but it builds in a fittingly exciting way. Its in stark contrast to the hefty drums that open up the albums second track Sleepwalkin a much livelier Conor led song that is a little bit hookier and a little bit meatier. The track ends up with a verse for each artist but its highlight is the chorus which manages to be bright and exciting without leaving the realm of folk-rock that the albums inhabits. Exception To The Rule follows this same formula with another memorable chorus, but not as much impact laced through the verses.
The next song up is Dylan Thomas which seemed to be the albums single that wasn't a single, spotlighting the performance leading up to the albums surprise release and getting a music video shortly afterward. With such a great dueted hook and some excellent guitar passages littering the songs second half and outro its easy to see why, the cut is patient in the vein of folk rock but makes a huge statement early on in the project and will be one of the most remembered cuts. The next track Service Road is another good one, but in a much different vein. The somber and boyish vocals from Conor Oberst breeze by over some natural drums and acoustic guitar work that gives the track a comfortable sensationalism as it works towards its emotional peak, its one of the better examples of good songwriting you can find in the project.
Chesapeake may be the sleepiest moment on the project bu t it also finds a way to hit its stride. A handful of irresistibly catchy refrains make the song one that has memorable highlights but isn't the best full tune. Big Black Heart matches its somberness with a much more frontal tone. The dueted track is a slow build to a bombastic closer that shows the two artists giving some of their most passionate performances across the entire project and totally delivering on the songs title promise.
My City is one of the more dull moments on the project. A solid instrumental is built up but for the most part it begs for a little bit more enthusiastic vocal performances. The next track Forest Lawn may be the lowlight. Not a bad song by any means but relentlessly boring and far more snore inducing than most of the tracks despite the albums lowkey approach.
The closer Dominoes is one of the most Bright Eyes inspired, at least in its first half. Conor Oberst's vocals are front and center over a driving but quiet backing instrumental and his lyricism is on sharp display. Unfortunately as the song evolves it drifts into the predictableness towards the second half and the duo vocals fail to stand out among the rest of the tracks and leave a good impression right at the end of the tune.
In conclusion despite a shaky start and finish as a whole project Better Oblivion Community Center has a consistent and solid sound that it executes well. It fails to reach the emotional peaks of Bright Eyes best records but the world that it settles into is a comfortably one for folk rock in 2019. The loose concept it follows is one that I wish it had a little bit more commitment to, and that would have helped flex the lyrical muscles of two artists who have been praised for such thing before. In spite of this the album works on its own terms and uses its sonic consistency as a platform to execute a formula successfully for most of the album. Ultimately a duo with such talent leaves me wanting a little bit more from the project but what we have here is plenty enough to insure that Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst are capable of some very solid work is they continue in the future. 7/10
