Twenty One Pilots - Clancy
This isn't a welcome back to Trench. This is them keeping us from the edge of Trench, so much so that we begin to miss the depth of being there in the first place.
TØP has always read to me as an enigma of sorts. I'm invested in their sound, the duo's bandmanship, the lore that connects three of their core albums, and even the combination of styles they use to influence and nuance their sound to distinguish them from the alternative field. And yet, Trench is still the only album I like from them, hell, the only one where the band had a complete focus on a straight narrative throughout the structuring of the project, without having to lose their edge or compromise their sound to make something more captivating. No. Instead, they doubled down on the elements of their previous albums that made them originally stand out and carried their full potential in each moment of the project. It was an emotional sonic and thematic ride that even today I return to, even when it's to merely remind myself that despite all my doubts, the band has it in them to keep up this raw momentum and transform it into a different beast. So hearing that Clancy would serve as the fitting conclusion to the band's lore, I was captivated from the moment the first two singles were released and had hope that the band would kick just as much ass as they did during their Trench era while sounding as fresh and in tune as ever.
But after listening to this new album three times now, all I can say is, "What Happened?"
I'm kinda shocked at the disappointment I had when this album played. Compared to when Scaled and Icy dropped, I knew that album was going to be one of the weakest offerings in their catalog, and while I might like that album less than this new one, I will say that I'm more disappointed with this album than I was with their last. On Clancy, the band returns to their stomping grounds to manufacture the most tame conclusion to the lore trilogy. The production of this project lacks the depth and texture that Trench achieved in spades. On that album, nothing from the mixes of sequencing felt overbearing or distracting to any listener, in fact, the darkness and bleak aura only helped to increase the emotional potency of the album where each song reinforces the next. So why does Clancy not sound like a second helping of Trench? Is it because the band did not want to repeat themselves? Or was the softer, attractive style that brought more fans into the band a formula that they could work with to best conclude the plot? Whatever the decision was, it did not pan out to have the same consistency and emotional resonance that the Trench era set up so well.
The sequencing on this album is all out of whack. I mentioned before that the first two songs on the album I like on their own, while not packing in the same weightiness as Jumpsuit or Levitate, they remain catchy highlights on this new project. But in the context of the tracklist, from the tongue-in-cheek Overcompensate to the 2000s indie pop-punk aesthetic of Next Semester, to the same downtrodden rap-rock that made Tyler a prominent voice in the alternative sphere, the jumps between these tracks feel like sonic whiplash. Unlike Trench, where each song flows into the next while containing a purpose to every shift between sounds, here it feels like ideas are being put in a random order that distracts fans from the narrative of the album by how much they're trying to fit in one project.
The flow of this album is incredibly choppy and now, more than ever, they are wearing their influences down their sleeves, to the point where I'd rather be listening to bands who've done these sounds better. Midwest Indigo for example feels like something pulled right off of AnCo's Merriweather Post Pavilion, however, the melodies and the backdrop of the instrumental lack the catchiness and the punch that heavier ideas like My Blood or Chlorine did so well. Jumping from there to possibly the most boring track on the album, Routines in the Night, Tyler's downtrodden delivery is not enough to keep me emotionally attached to the soft synth and drum machine patterns fading into the background. Is it just me or is this the most tame they've sounded on a track? And then the jump to Vignette, possibly containing the most outwardly annoying melody on any track on the album (Tyler's falsetto on the hook still haunts me), is yet again an unjustified transition between a miss-match of ideas that don't try to string themselves together.
This is probably the biggest gripe with the album: none of the tracks are placed in a way that they can reinforce each other to provide sonic and emotional consistency around a holistic narrative. If anything, they distract me more from the plot more than they pull me in. Like you’re telling me the choppiness of the production and the clunky hooks on Navigating or Lavish is enough to convince me that they're ending this era as boldly as they started it? I don't buy it. I think if this album were put in a random order while the first and last tracks remain in the same position, I think fans would get a similar effect out of the album, which in my opinion, does not work well for the band or the story they're trying to tell.
This is not nearly as focused as I wanted it to be. The lyrics, performances, structuring, and production all lack the textured nuances that made Trench so attractive in the first place. Instead, Clancy feels like an excuse from the band. Tyler and Josh are apologizing for releasing Scaled and Icy and using their lore as a mask to cover the phoned-in tracklist that we're presented with. I think with that off my chest, with the narrative now concluded, and with only one kick-ass album to return back to, I think I'm done trying to like this band, or even care for them. This could have been so much more bold and more nuanced than the vast majority of their catalog. But as it stands, Clancy is yet another scattered and underachieving offering from a group that consistently within their nature keeps sabotaging their own ideas.
Favorite Tracks: Overcompensate, Next Semester, Backslide, The Craving (Jenna’s Version), Paladin Strait
Least Favorite: Lavish
4/10
